The Owl and the Phoenix
by pheonixfire00
Summary: Part four of "The lost Owl and the Phoenix" AU. A crossover of the cartoons, Avengers: EMH and Wolverine & the X-men. What if the God Phoenix from the Gatchaman Universe was actually a Phoenix Force and inhabits Ryu of the Science Ninja team like the God Phoenix warship? Lessons and learning is what happens and the best place to learn is Xavier's Institute for the gifted.
1. Previously on Owl Assemble

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own Gatchaman. If I did, I would change nothing._

**_AN:_**_ Just to let new readers know, this is the fourth chapter of my "The lost Owl and the Phoenix" fiction. Although I do try to do a summary of the previous story in the first chapter, it doesn't hurt to go back and read them all. Everything is linked._

_The first two fics are found in the Gatchaman section, known as "__**This is our Story**__" and "__**The other side of the Story**__". The third fic is known as "__**Owl Assemble**__" and that's located in the Gatchaman/Avengers: Earths Mightest heroes crossover section_

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_**Owl And The Phoenix**_

With Ryu finding out that he was stuck in the Marvel universes dimension, he was given an informal invitation to join the Avengers. Of course, the informal invitation eventually turned into a formal one once the world was introduced to the Horned Owl. Showing the world that the Avenger's will accept anyone with the drive to do good, Ryu's appearance helped the Avenger's image improve. With his first enemies being the wrecking crew, he was given a trial by fire by Carol and Janet, better known as Ms Marvel and the Wasp.

Of course, it wasn't all fighting and games. Ryu got a new wardrobe to keep up with the times, some good-natured teasing on what he usually wears and getting introduced to the other Avengers. But it wasn't just fun and good times to be had, a reminder that he had responsibilities back home and the realisation that his old team may be dead causes a panic attack and the first flare of psionic energy. Still, once recovered, he was cheered up, especially when the quinjet was shown to him.

But his first solo act in the team showed this 17 year old ninja that although he was shown a lot of things form this world... It didn't shield his from theirs.

Ryu eventually came across Hydra in the heat of battle. But with Hydra dressing up startlingly familiar to Galactor, Ryu acted on instinct. Bringing the full force of the lethal Kaguku Ninpo art of combat to the court, Ryu decimated an entire squad of Hydra goons, much to the Reapers interest. With Captain America, Hawkeye and the Hulk bearing witness to this, Ryu was given a powerful shock to the system in the differences between worlds. This eventually snapped his mind to think of his home and a strong bout of home-sickness, regret at resorting to those methods and a fear of losing the people he cared about finally bubbled up and out. With his teammates in another dimension or dead and no-one close he could draw strength from, he finally spilled out things to Steve Rogers. Almost a whole years of war and trauma was spilled out to the war veteren who was once again reminded of the horrors of war. Once Ryu was finished, the weight on his chest was lifted somewhat.

Then a drill occurred Moleman was introduced, he found out his feather shuriken's were running low and another flare of psionic power was done. The accompanying headaches were disregarded since they were in combat and considered a sign of stress but it was infact his own psionic abilities growing up and improving as the God Phoenix rested within his mind and soul. Defeating Moleman, the team returned to the mansion where Ryu was introduced to the Fantastic Four. Of course, he was also shown Tony Stark's latest projects involving him. His bracelet was improved, rendering his uniform obsolete whilst also hammering in the realisation that his previous life was fading.

He spoke with Janet, describing the team, the God Phoenix and his own little idea he was toying with. He wanted to rebuild the God Phoenix, so that when he returned to his dimension, he could destroy Galactor. He did have to explain to Janet about Jinpei's age, since the 10 year old was obviously younger than the mid to late teens in the team, but he believes he reasoned and explained it pretty well. They then left with the Fantastic Four to their home base, the Baxter Building. Ryu and Johnny, due to a little incident earlier that day, had a certain amount of animosity between the two, so when told to give ryu a tour, Johnny decided to do a bit of payback and make it a flaming extreme tour, before leaving him on free-falling down the stairwell.

Getting back the the human Torch was easy enough. He just returned to the roof and started examining their ship, leaving Johnny to the mercies of his sister who found out about the extreme tour. Getting in on the prank, they told him he was a few dozen levels below them, so with Johnny searching the lower floors for him in order to protect his car, Ryu caught up with the girls, before everyone was brought together. Told about Doctor Doom, The teams eventually parted and Ryu decided to do some studying on Victor.

Tony then shows him his second pet project for the Owl. A feather Shuriken holster that could put little capsules to turn the feather's into 'trick shurikens', ala, Hawkeyes' trick arrows. With a more strict amount that he could use since they are small, the Avenger's were alerted to an attack on the Fantastic Four.

The battle at the Baxter building was a turning point in his life in this dimension, as his Psionic powers which have steadily been growing since he recovered from the Aurora ray back from his dimension started flaring up more often. Arriving at the Baxter Building, they proceeded to clear the first few floors of Doombots where Ryu caused another brief flare of Psionic energy to improve his strength, before spreading out. Of course, Ryu just had to be the lucky one to encounter Doom. Vainly hoping he could get away, he did shut the door as soon as he reliased who was in that room but a Doombot managed to surprise him by grabbing him and bringing him in. A little back and forth and Doom had managed to dig under the Owl's skin and start chipping away at his belief of the team. Telling him he knew how to send him home cemented that.

But no matter how much he wanted to go home, abandoning his friends to death was not on. It almost destroyed him when he arrived in the dimension that the Science ninja team could be dead from him being trapped here and he refused to let that happen again. His psionic force flared up several times in this battle. Palming his ID card, empowering his strength to force the machines arms wide and again causing a brief shaking in the room when he laid injured and enraged, but none of it was enough to beat the genius monarch and he was eventually left to rest against a panel, injuries to an arm and leg making combat inefficient. Obviously the fic would of ended there if Doom had his way. But Wasp and Captain America decided that explosions coming from Ryu's direction was a pretty good alternative to alerting them via ID cards. Then the arrival of Hawkeye, Iron Man, Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Woman turned the battle over instantly and the added power of the Thing and the Human torch ended Doom's plan pretty effectively.

Ryu was brought back to recover from his injuries and he was a good boy in doing so, taking care to rest a lot and recover his strength. But the laid back owl could only take so much before he got bored. That was when he found out about Bruce and his once a month fishing excursions. A little homesick again, the entire trip was just what he needed to recover, both physically and mentally whilst also becoming closer with the Hulk and Bruce Banner.

Then the greatest battle since Galactus came to earth occurred A new member to the Masters of Evil was briefly introduced, who can create bubbles of energy that reflected attacks back at enemies or were impervious to physical attacks. Ambushing the few Avenger's around New York and timed so Thor was away, the Avenger's were being beaten one by one. Coming back from their fishing trip, The Horned Owl and The Hulk joined the battle. The battle became more even but when Hulk was temporarily negated (i.e, bashed so hard he flew away and couldn't get any purchases to return to battle straight away), the Owl was finding combat harder and harder. Then Hydra joined the battle and Ryu made the biggest mistake of his life. He hesitated in combat, instincts fighting his training he has been doing with Steve Rogers.

It was enough for the abomination to grab him. A dozen strikes, all done while flooded with adrenalin with his fight against the Hulk, Ryu felt half a dozen strikes strong enough to harm the Hulk. The other half dozen weren't felt since he was on the borders of unconsciousness and death. Launched towards Bubbleman (as the reporter calls him in an executive decision), Bubbleman was shocked that the Owl was dead. The Fantastic four and the Hulk rejoining turned the battle around again but it was too late. It was the arrival of Spiderman snapped him out of it, where he dealt with the stress by breaking down completely Bringing Susan Storm over to help, they tried their best to revive the Owl.

Ryu, in the meantime, was trapped in his consciousness, watching his life run before his eyes. Feeling depression hit him hard on top of realising he was dead, he started breaking, before he feels the comforting arms of someone holding him. Although he couldn't turn around, he thought he knew the feminine arms in bird-style holding him tight.

He was wrong. It wasn't Jun. It was another female, one who spoke as if she knew him well. And finally, she told him that he could call her. He just needed to call up her power and she'll save everyone.

His sudden revival brought joy to the worried reserve avenger and fantastic four member, but the words he uttered next sent ripples throughout the marvel-verse. The same words that would cause Galactor to tremble, now brought forth a new power... And this power was eerily familiar to one particular Avenger/X-man who was aiding the fight.

"Kaguku Ninpo... Hinotori!"

And just like that, the Phoenix was reborn. From the destroyed shell of the God Phoenix, her consciousness was jump-started when her Owl's life started to slip. Wielding powerful Psionic energy like the Phoenix Force that inhabits Jean Grey's soul, he almost destroyed Abomination in vengeance before Janet brought him back in control. At least enough to think properly. He then used what power he had left to destroy the Mechas AIM and Hydra brought to the table. Once exhausted though, his mind and body just shut down, leaving him comatose for a while.

Brought to the hospital afterwards, he wasn't responsive. And a brief discussion with Wolverine on what happened occurred.

Then Tony Stark arrives with a Guest. Jean Grey. Her Phoenix Force was drastically weakened but it was still within her. And when Ryu released his Phoenix Force, her's flared up as well. She delved into the Owl's mind, which took some work but his mind was finally working enough for him to awaken mentally. During this time, Jean's Phoenix idly comments on the pair being trapped in their dimension as trivial since she could send them back at any point, but with his psionic powers developing still it was ill-advised by both his Phoenix force and Jean. However, they could still send their consciousnesses into his realm, just to set his mind at peace about what happened after Galactor's ambush.

To Ryu's glee, the team managed to survive, although that quickly turned to sorrow upon seeing how broken they were from his death. The team received a new pilot to take them on missions, A Selena Roma, known as the Kestrel. She took his place in the Gatchaman universe, events shifting and changing on account of his being missing.

Due to the God Phoenix messing around with time in the first fic, time was not synchronised and was infact, accelerated So what was just shy of 2 weeks for Ryu in the Marvel-verse was abut 2 years for the Gatchaman team, enough time for the Gatchaman Fighter series to start. Jean's Phoenix fixed time so it ran normally again and once they were caught up with everything, it was a few episodes into the Gatchaman F series (encase you wanted to know).

Returning their consciousnesses to the Marvel-verse, Jean decided to accept Ryu into the Xaviours Institute for the gifted. A psion with potential to becoming a class 50 threat kinda needed to be trained, especially since he isn't technically a mutant. Some mutants may have some kind of control over their powers, but he wasn't a mutant, so he has to teach himself how to rework his brain into doing what it wants. So he needs training and lots of it.

It was here that Scott showed how similar he was to Ken by being strict, so Ryu, a little annoyed at being snapped at and not being allowed to examine the ship, took a leaf out of Jinpei and Joe's book and started tormenting him.

Which brings us to now. Welcome to the Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, in particular, the _**Owl and the Phoenix**_ Saga.

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**_A/N:_**_ That was what happened previously in the previous story. A little short, but it's a fairly brief summary of the events of "__**Owl Assemble**__". The actual chapters will be at least twice as long._


	2. The Xavier's Institute for the Gifted

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own Gatchaman. If I did, I would change nothing._

**_AN:_**_ And now the first, official chapter in the story! This pretty much continues off from the end of '__**Owl Assemble**__'_

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_"Blah blah" in double-quotes is someone speaking_

_'blah blah' in single-quotes is mind speech_

_blah blah with no quotes is story text and Ryus thought_

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**_Previously..._**

_Ryu was glancing back and forth in confusion, before shrugging. As the ramp descents, he takes one last look around, before Jean sighs. "I'll show you the jet later. Let's just get you settled in for now."_

_Ryu gives a grin before nodding his head in approval. As long as he comes back to see that jet! It looked highly impressive. Still not as nice as the God Phoenix, but a pretty distinct third place, after the Original God Phoenix and his new designs for the God Phoenix that Tony said he was going to build._

_'Damn straight! Nothing compares to my old shell! Although the one you designed looks nice as well!'_

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Ryu gives a brief chuckle as he walks down the hallway with Jean, eliciting a strange look. "Heh, me and GP really are similar."

Jean blinks again. "I know GP is friendly but that friendly?" She suddenly gives a weirded out expression. "And now my Phoenix is trying to copy that." They head up in the lift, both communicating with their Phoenix's, one chatting aimlessly about what improvements the God Phoenix could try while the other trying to get used to a more 'friendly' Phoenix Force.

It was when the door opens to a wall of blue fur that has them both snap out of it. "Oh, my apologies Jean. I was just, who's this?" The blue furry guy just spots Ryu and gives an inquiring expression.

"Ah, this is Ryu. He's going to be a new student Hank. Ryu, this is Doctor Hank McCoy, codenamed Beast."

Ryu looks up at Hank. He's seen orange rock people, green giants, scaled monsters and now a blue, fuzzy guy? Well, at least this world was keeping him on his toes. "Erm... Hi?"

"I'm going to be teaching him on how to control his powers." Jean started explaining.

"Really? Similar powers I assume?" Hank adopts a thoughtful expression as he steps in and the door closes. The three shuffle around a bit to get comfortable, with Hank standing between the two Phoenix Force wielders.

"Really similar. Ryu is also known as the Horned Owl. I'm sure you can guess why he's here?" Jean gives a grin.

Hank suddenly widens his eyes and looks down at him, remembering the events that was broadcast on national Television, who was slowly getting more and more flush for unknown reasons. At least, to them.

To him, he had a good reason to be so embarrassed.

_'So soft.._.' That was when he started to go red as he could feel his shoulder brush up against Beast's arm. '_GP!'_ A Mental shout, feeling a little embarrassed '_What? He is! Don't deny it!' _He was getting even more red in the face. '_Can... Can you feel things I feel?'_ Was his response, avoiding the question. '_Yup! And I say he feels soft! He takes good care of his fur! I can tell you that much_! _Give him a hug! I wanna feel if he is that soft!'_

Hank's exclamation breaks his mental connection. "You mean you're the other wielder of the Phoenix Force!?" He looks quite alarmed at that. No doubt wondering how safe it was being in a small cramped, metal box with two people with powerful psionic power's at their disposal. '_Come on! Hug him!'_ If only he knew what GP was like. Ryu was doing his best to resist... He really was. _..._

"... She thinks your fur is soft..." '_There, was that good enough?'_ He suddenly got the image of her pouting. '_No... I said hug him! not tell him I think his fur is soft!'_

"..." He now looks dumbfounded at that. His expression going from 'I may be in trouble' to 'say wha'?

Jean suddenly bursts into laughter. "Oh Hank. I don't think the Phoenix's will be blowing up the mansion any-time soon. For one, his Phoenix is really friendly, or maybe a bit too friendly in this case. To the point where mine is trying to be friendly as well. So don't worry so much." He looked confused. Still unsure how to process this. The idea of a Phoenix Force not about to destroy them all was almost unable to be processed. "But I'm going to be calling the others for a meeting in the study later on. I'll explain then."

The doors open and the pair steps out. Ryu gives a shy wave to the Beast as the doors close and heads down to his labs. As they walk down the hall, Ryu focuses on Jean, before giving a slight, mental nudge. '_Jean...'_

She blinks and glances is way. '_Yes?'_

_'Is it wrong that GP wanted me to hug Mr McCoy?'_

She pauses. Unsure how to respond to that. '_I'm... not the person you should ask about that...'_

_'Although his fur IS that soft!' _Her Phoenix interjects. The pair of them flush red as giggles from the twin Phoenix's echoes in their minds. "Let's... Just continue on..." She continues on, trying to control the blood rushing to her cheeks. Ryu hastily follows.

They were both a little weirded out about that. Once they reach the end of the corridor, Jean opens the door that leads to the study. It was a fairly plain one, well looked after, if a bit new. Bookcases lined the wall and a wooden desk was situated in the middle. It looked a little custom, like a special need? She writes down something in a book, before putting that away. "Just a record of the newest student and to see what rooms are available was her response to his questioning expression She then goes back through the door. Ryu follows loyally, since she knew the place and he didn't. Ascending some steps, some twists and turns and she pauses by a door.

As she opens it, she begins explaining. "This will be your room. You're only down the hall from me, just encase."

He gives a cheeky grin. "Encase I go fwoosh?"

She chuckles "Something like that". He blinks and stares at the room, since it was now open. "Anyway, this is your room for now. It's a bit Spartan but it's unoccupied. Still, bigger than those dorms right?"

Ryu was just gaping, before gaining enough wit to comment. "How.. rich is this Xavier guy?"

She gives him a grin, before looking around. "Is there anything at the mansion that you want shipped over?"

He blinks, frowns as he thinks of what was in his room before his eyes widen. "Um... Apart from my clothing... There is a, uniform I used to wear. Is, it possible to have it brought here?"

She blinks, and then her eyes soften some more. "I don't see why not. I'll give a call to the mansion later on and ask someone to bring it over. anyway, I'll be back in 10 minutes or so. Got to do a bit of admin work before accepting you completely as well as let everyone know to meet up in the living room so I can introduce you to everyone." Giving a brief wave, she leaves through the door and continues down the hall.

Ryu gives a sigh, and slowly turns around, committing the entire room to memory. He then begins looking around, peeking into drawers and turning on the TV in the room. Latest story about the after effects from the battle was being shown as well as clips of the battle itself. He winces as he catches himself torturing the Abomination, before uttering a brief apology and a prayer.

_'He deserved it...'_ He shakes his head. '_No one deserves torture GP...'_ Her huff made him sigh. '_Your life is more important to me than anyone else's...'_

He blinks, before his own eyes soften. He closes his eyes and he could almost feel the heat she generated hold him from behind. '_Thanks for that... But I still don't approve of you torturing someone. Maybe throw them away somewhere instead? The bins were like, down the street. Could have just dumped him in there a few dozen times?'_ He feels her giggle and he grins triumphantly. '_Ok, no more torture. Just bin dipping. Kay?'_ He gives a smile. '_Kay...'_

Opening his eyes, he looks at the mirror, catching the brief flicker of fire coming from his eyes and around him. Giving a content sigh, he peeks around the room, before back-flipping onto the bed. He bounces on it a few times, testing it's bounciness in a way only children can. Although almost a fully grown man, it was still a strong temptation and he just wanted to relax. '_Not too relaxed though! You don't want to wake up floating near the ceiling!'_ He gives a chuckle and then somersaults off.

Satisfied with the bed, he starts opening and closing drawers, checking things out. Once his curiosity was fully sated, he peeks out into the hallway, before spotting the sign that said bathroom across the hall. He sneaks over and takes a peek inside, whistling in appreciation. _This IS nice!_ He could feel that GP was impressed as well. '_Yeah. This room looks relaxing.'_ Ryu suddenly pauses, as a thought bubbles up in his head. '_Yes, the answer to that question is yes.' _GP gave a giggle, having heard the unasked question as it bubbled in his mind. Ryu, just goes red. '_But if you're that uncomfortable, I suppose I can take a brief nap during your 'private time' It's not like I haven't seen you naked before.'_ He could feel her roll her eyes, but he simple squeaks out a thanks before heading back into his room.

As he approaches his room, Jean rounds the corner and blinks. She then shrugs. "Come on, everyone is gathering downstairs. Let's go introduce the pair of you." She gives a smirk as he grins. He then jogs up to her as he is led through a few corridors and down the steps. He looks at the assembled group there. Scott and Logan he recognised, as well as Hank. But the others were all new. He shifts a bit, feeling suddenly awkward. Halfway down the steps, Jean pauses, before clearing her throat.

"Everyone, allow me to introduce you to our newest student to the institute. Ryu Nakanishi. Ryu, this is the X-men." A brief bout of hellos were exchanged, with him getting introduced to various members of the team. "Ryu's powers are similar to mine. Telekinesis and Telepathy, so I'm going to be spending some time doing one-on-one sessions with him in the danger room." She gives a glance to him where he chuckles and rubs the back of his head. "So I expect you all to not torment him if possible. And I'm looking at you guys in particular." The two guys she suddenly looked at give an offended look, but her grin shows that she was teasing mainly. She comments to him quietly "Not everyone is here at the moment, but I'll introduce you once they do come back."

Ryu rubs the back of his head, unsure about what to say. "Hiya?" Maybe he should open up with a joke or something? He jumps when the area next to him seems to explode and a blue guy steps out from the smoke. "Welcome to the institute! I'm Nightcrawler, or Kurt Wagner! Nice to meet you Ryu!" He holds his three fingered hand out, a grin on his face.

Well, after giant Green powerhouses, orange rock guys, fuzzy blue guys _And don't forget cuddly_ And red faces, really, was another blue guy going to be surprising? Ryu takes his hand and chuckles. "Thanks Nightcrawler."

He was suddenly distracted when a girl reaches them and moves through Kurt. "Hi! I'm Kitty, codename Shadowcat!" She takes his other hand and shakes it.

"Kitty! You're invading my personal space again!" "Sorry!"

He chuckles at the pair, before starting to go down the stairs. Best to do all these introductions off the steps right? "Names Bobby but you can call me Iceman!" Ryu glances at this guy with a bit of confusion, where he promptly turned into Ice. Well, he was the opposite to Johnny Storm then.

Then his eyes caught the white haired, dark skinned woman. "I am Ororo, but everyone calls me Storm. My powers allow me to control the weather which isn't entirely indoor friendly." Ryu blinks. "Kinda like how Thor control thunder?" She smiles. "Similar. Wind and Rain, Thunder and ice. All the weather is my domain."

Well, that sounded powerful. How does one fight the weather itself? '_By altering reality?' _... That works he supposes. '_Thanks,'_ was the mental chirp from GP. Wondering if that was it, he blinks when another guy comes in with Beast. The guy gives a smile and approaches. "I was told by Beast and by Jean that you're the new guy. Names Forge. Need anything technical, then I'm your man!"

A quick shake and then he was off, commenting about a project being under-way. Beast shifts a bit, possibly uncomfortable after his last comments. '_And what way to calm someone down with a hug! Go on!'_ He resists. somehow. "Hi there Mr McCoy. Sorry about her comments, but, well, she has quite the personality." '_I'm not sure if I should be annoyed or confused...'_

'_Be neither? It means you're not boring?'_ Was his reply. '_In that case, neat!' _There we go. Crisis averted.

Beast just shakes his head. "It's Ok. I'm, just a little overwhelmed at all these realisations. I mean, we didn't have the best introduction to Jean's friend the first two times she came around, and now an almost 180 turn? It's just a bit strong." '_Hug him! Hug! __Hug! __Hug!'_

"Believe me Mr McCoy, you should be grateful you don't have any extra visitors in you're head. I'm still getting used to it, despite this feeling, right?_" 'Right? I'm just a, Right feeling to you?'_ He frowns, wondering if he used the right word. '_Right... I think, that is the right word. Kinda like how Peanut butter and Jelly is right together, or bread and butter. It's just right, like nothing else matches up to it.' _A chirp in his head sounded a lot more pleasant. '_I see! So It's like Peanut Butter and Jelly. On their own they're nice but combine them together and they make the best thing ever!'_

"I don't really have any experience with what you're dealing with, but no matter what, you'll have our support." He rests a hand on his shoulder and he feels a feeling of elation bubble up within him. '_I was right! He IS Soft!' _His entire body shudders for a moment before his body gives off a soft glow. Then, before he could control himself, he had his arms around the Beast as he gave him a bear hug, rubbing his cheek against his chest. After a second, he pulled away, completely red as he looks around briefly to see if anyone saw, the glow promptly going away. He catches the eye of Jean and Scott, but luckily everyone else was busy looking elsewhere. '_I TOLD you! He IS Soft! Kinda wish you had his fur now...' 'Maybe...'_ He shakes his head, unable to look Beast in the eye. '_Ryu?'_ A tentative mental nudge, from GP or Jean, he wasn't sure. '_Erm... Sorry. But I REALLY wanted to see if he was soft and fluffy. Did... I do something wrong?'_

Hank finally gathers his senses and pats him on the head awkwardly. "Next time... Just ask please. Both of you." Ryu nods and he could feel GP doing the same. "Jean just explained to me, so don't worry. I'll be in the lab if you need me for anything but hugging. I'll need to take a blood sample later on anyway so come on down once you have some time" He gives a wink as he marches off down the corridor.

Ryu makes his way back to Jean, still red in the face. Kitty notices and edges herself closer, nudging him slightly to get his attention. "What happened?"

"Nothing happened!" Ryu's response was a snap response. Although the way she creped up and nudged him..._ 'Just like a Kitten, I might add'._ The burst of laughter in his mind and Jean suddenly doubling over in laughter was met with confused expressions. A moment later, she straightens up quickly, an expression of seriousness on her face. Scott suddenly asks Kitty a question about Lockheed as Jean grabs his hand and literally drags him down the steps and into a corridor. Once away from prying eyes, she stares at him and waits. Confused, he blinks once he realises something was wrong. '_Um... Oppsie...'_ Oppsie? He looks at his hands, then his arms, before looking down. "Oh..." Faint flickers of fire was licking his feet, giving them a fairly interesting design AND experience.

"Embarrassment is an emotion it seems." She gives a sigh, before grinning and placing a hand on her hip. "So let's start one of your lessons now then, since you're already 'on'." Taking his hand, she takes him back to the lift and they head back down. Back in that metallic corridor, he is lead through several passages before entering a doorway. He pauses as he looks into the large, dome-like room. If he didn't know better, this looked a lot like the old training centre Nambu had the team practice in, albeit, with less stuff in it.

Looking up, he spotted the observation room and blinks. "This, Ryu, is the Danger Room." She floats up, moving towards the observation room and focussed. The floor suddenly opened up and large blocks appeared. Giving a nod, she settled herself down and sat down near them, gesturing him to do the same. Upon sitting, she began explaining. "This exercise is one of the things I did to help control my telekinetic power. Since we're advancing to these rather than small blocks, you may have a few problems working it. So just take your time and just get a feel for them for now. I'm going to lower the barrier so your powers can expand."

Ryu gives a nod, before staring at one of them. After a moment of nothing happening, he begins frowning. "Patience is key here. Try to keep your focus on the block." '_Try closing your eyes! That may help?' _"Yes, that probably would GP..." '_No problem!'_ Sighing, Ryu closed his eyes and pictured the block infront of him. A few minutes more of nothing, and then he felt it. He could see the block again, with his eyes closed! "That's it Ryu. Focus on it, keep that image clear in your mind. Once you can picture it clearly, start expanding your senses to the other blocks." He tries to do so, but the moment his focus wasn't on the block, then his head suddenly exploded with noise. Crying out, he slams his palms against his ears as he falls to his side, unprepared for the sudden burst of noise and unable to block it out.

The noise starts quieting but it was still an incessant chattering in the back of his head, like Jinpei was high on sugar and was strapped to the rear of the God Phoenix. It wasn't loud enough to hurt his head any more, but the sound was still there and annoying. "Ryu!" '_Ryu!'_

He opens his eyes, squinting at her as his head was slightly throbbing. Jean was hovering over him, speaking yet not heard. After a moment, sound started to come back, almost mutable but he could hear Jean talking. "-trate, just focus on ... voice ... it, look at me." He takes a deep, shuddering breath, before starting to rise up. '_Ryu? Are you ok?'_

He shivers. "What was that?"

Jean gives a sigh of relief. "That was your telepathy, reaching out and catching the thoughts of a lot of people, at once. Maybe we should focus on that at first?" A loud boom form behind them had the pair jump, the block from earlier landing there. Looking up, Jean quickly throws her arm forwards, sending the blocks scattering away from their position above them. She then sighs. "This is going to be tough... I had my telekinesis mostly under control when I gained my telepathy. You have both awaken at the same time..."

Ryu just rubs his temples. "I can still hear voices in my head... That, totally didn't sound right."

Jean sighs, and rests a hand on his back. "That's alright, Let's just focus on telepathy for the moment. We can't have you lose control of your telekinesis when you get distracted like that."

"But what If I hurt someone?" '_Worry wort.'_

Jean puts her hand on her hips and says, almost casually. "With both me and GP trying to prevent that, you shouldn't hurt anyone."

"Oh... Ok, I can dig that."He blinks at Jean's posture, before deflating somewhat. "I know. I know. Get with the times. Geesh."He crosses his arms and huffs in exaggeration. "Can't I just learn them both at once?"

"Can you rub your belly with your left hand while pat your head with your right, whilst reciting the alphabet and hopping on one foot?" He blinks, tilts his head in confusion, before shrugging. He then attempts to, key word, attempts. He ends up patting both his head and belly whilst speaking the alphabet, before stumbling and falling down. "Learning Telekinesis requires a lot of practice and control, Telepathy requires focus and an aim. Learning both at the same time will confuse you, I can guarantee that. Doing one at a time will help your mind grasp the needed information to control the powers."

He looks down. "Oh... Well, I suppose I should get started on that then. Heh."

They both sit down as she begins explaining how her telepathy works, or at least, tries to explain it. After several minutes of almost round-about talking, she finally just sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose. "Maybe it'll be better if we just break you in slowly. I'll lower the blockage slightly and you can work out how it comes in, then stop it."

He gives a hesitant nod. Closing their eyes, the incessant chattering in the back of his mind get's partially louder. '_Now Ryu, try to visualise a door where this noise is coming from.'_ He clenches his eyes as he focusses, trying to picture a door over the noise. _Now, close the door._ Close it? Well, may as well try. He tried closing the door, but before it could close properly, it swung back open and the noise picked up again. '_Keep your focus Ryu! Keep trying to close that door.' _He grits his teeth, focussing on the door and trying to shove it close. He was getting frustrated at how stubborn the door was. '_Ryu! Focus! Stop trying to shove it close and just imagine it closed!'_

He takes a deep breath, letting the door swing back open and bringing the noise back, but he wanted to regain his focus before attempting it again. Once done, he starts trying to imagine the door closing. He could feel it slowly do so, but those last few inches just wouldn't close.' _Don't get frustrated Ryu! Keep yourself calm.'_ He tried to keep his breath steady, before shifting into a meditative stance. Taking care to keep his mind focussed and his breathing steady, he clears his mind before nudging the door closed. It was working, the door was gradually closing, but that last inch was refusing to give.

He then feels his mind fill with warmth and the door slams shut suddenly. '_There! all better!'_ came the familiar chirp. '_GP! Ryu needed to do that on his own!' _Came the reprimand from Jean. '_Psh, he didn't know how to close it fully, his mind isn't quite capable of it yet.'_ Wha? Was that an insult?' _That doesn't mean you should of done that. How is he supposed to control his powers if you do it for him?'_ Jean's reasoning was sound, but GP gives a scoff. '_Jeannie. He doesn't know how to close it. He hasn't done that before. But now he's seen how it is supposed to close. He'll be able to replicate that effect a bit more easier now.'_

Was she right? He let the door open again, feeling the world erupt into quiet noise again. He then focusses on closing it again, finding it surprisingly easier to get it to the last few inches again. '_See? He learns by experience and practice. Telling him how to do it is good and all, but he needs to get a feel for it to learn it properly. Or, you can try describing it like it's a plane. He'll work it out that way too.'_ That last inch again, but this time he felt it giving way. He grins, before bending his knees down infront of the door and resting both hands on his kneecaps. '_This time, I'll close you for sure!'_ He suddenly pushes at the door hard, a cry of effort reverberating in his head as the door finally closes.

He gives a triumphant grin, before his eyes roll to the back of his head and he faints. Outside, in the physical world, his body slumps over suddenly. Jean comes out of his mind a moment later and manages to prevent him from thumping on the floor. She gives a sigh, before levitating him up. "Your powers are putting a lot of strain on you if closing one door causes you to faint like that..."

A few moments later, Hank McCoy appears in the doorway. A quick glance at the unconscious teen and he gives a nod. "I need to take some blood tests from him anyway. So you may as well bring him to the infirmary."

"Why don't you take him down?" Was her reply.

"Well, for one thing, I'm not capable of suppressing his powers yet, so if anything happens I won't be able to respond. Another thing, I'm sure he'll feel more comfortable if you were around to do so..."

"And you're afraid he'll hug you again in his sleep?" Her grin was pretty big.

"... That too." Was his honest reply.

"Fine. Lead the way Hank."

* * *

A few minutes later, the threesome was in the infirmary. Hank was just drawing a blood sample as Ryu slept. As the needle came out, they both turned to the spot as it sizzled, a bit of steam coming form the blood mark as the hole slowly sealed up. They both blink at each other. "Regeneration as well? He's a big ball of tricks."

"I, don't recall that happening before..." '_Jeannie?'_ She blinked. '_Why did I have to suddenly heal Ryu?'_

Ah, that made sense now. '_Hank was just taking a blood sample.'_ The reply came back, full of curiousness. '_Why would he need a blood sample? I can heal him fine by myself!'_

"It's not regeneration Hank, it's GP healing him."

"Fascinating! I suppose Phoenix's in legend were known for their healing and re-birthing abilities."

_'Jean? GP?'_ Jean blinks, hearing her Phoenix finally comment since her earlier attempts at being friendly was both awkward and reassuring at the same time. '_Why are we all in Jean's mind?' _Was the curious question from her Phoenix. '_I was curious about why Ryu suddenly gained a small, minor injury. At least he's not hurt.'_ A sigh from her Phoenix, before GP decides to take advantage of the location. '_So what was it like before I came here?'_ Jean gives a sigh. "And now they're both chatting away in my head..."

A boisterous laugh from the Beast. "Better you than me!"

Jean gives a sly smirk. "I suppose. At least they can have a conversation. They'll probably be too busy bundled against you to talk." His reddening face had her burst into laughter. "Oh Hank! I don't think my Phoenix is like that!" '_How do you know! Maybe I want to try! GP says he's fluffy like a kitten!'_

He was about to join in her laughter when he realises she was frozen still, a bit of red on her cheeks. "Jean?"

"Never mind... I think GP is a bad influence on mine..." '_Am not!'_ Was her defensive exclamation. '_I didn't cause any explosion! did I? No! No I didn't!' _Phoenix interjects here, '_Hey! That was a one, no, two-time thing! Both times I was under attack! It was self-defense!'_ Jean just sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "And by bad influence, I mean, they make them behave like Kitty used to when she was younger."

Hank winces at that. "Pre or Post X-men bad?"

"Pre..." Was her response. Hank gives another wince and a consoling hand on the shoulder. Jean promptly freezes at that. '_WHOA! You didn't tell me it was THAT fluffy!'_ The response came back, almost teasingly. '_I so did!'_ Jean just groans and slumps in a seat, now rubbing her temples. '_Can you both __PLEASE stop being so loud? If you're going to be talking like that, do it quietly where I can't hear you!'_ Mental rant done, she gives a sigh when everything goes quiet. '_Sorry...'_ Came from both of them.

Ryu gives a groan a moment later, struggling to sit up right as he rubs his eyes. "Why does it feel like I just had a jack hammer rammed into my head and was left there for the past year?"

"Your mind is still adapting to your powers. Give it some time and you'll recover..." Was Jean's response. '_GP... Could you return to Ryu. He's going to need some rest and someone that isn't me needs to keep his powers under control.'_ The confirmation she received made her sigh in relief. She then stands up and stretches. "Despite not doing much, I'm feeling tired. So I'll leave you down here. GP said she'll cover for me, so try not to get to emotional. Kay?"

Ryu gives a nod of his head, hisses and then gratefully takes the pill and water that Hank gave him. "Get some rest, you've had a tiring day and if I recall, you only got out of the hospital today."

Ryu gives a grateful nod, settles down and closes his eyes.

Moments later, he was snoring away.

* * *

**_A/N: _**_Welcome to the first actual chapter of the Owl and the Phoenix. The full extent of Ryu's control over his powers was shown here. Which isn't much. His telekinesis when he's not in his Hinotori form is virtually unusable a slight distraction and hell breaks loose. His telepathy is only slightly better. He knows how to block off a few, filtered voices (and faints afterwards apparently). _

_GP and Jean are really babying him with powers, but GP is doing so because she's worried about his control whilst Jean is worried that he'll do what she did and blow up from the overload. So baby steps at first._

_Again, please critique honestly, I want to know of any mistakes I've made whether it's spelling or grammar mistakes. Expect the next fic to crop up in a few weeks while I shuffle ahead with the drafts._


	3. The Birds and the Bees

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own Gatchaman. If I did, I would change nothing._

* * *

_"Blah blah" in double-quotes is someone speaking_

_'blah blah' in single-quotes is mind speech_

_blah blah with no quotes is story text and Ryu's personal thoughts_

* * *

**_Previously..._**

_Ryu gives a groan a moment later, struggling to sit up right as he rubs his eyes. "Why does it feel like I just had a jackhammer rammed into my head and was left there for the past year?"_

_"Your mind is still adapting to your powers. Give it some time and you'll recover..." Was Jean's response. GP... Could you return to Ryu. He's going to need some rest and someone that isn't me needs to keep his powers under control. The confirmation she recieved made her sigh in relief. She then stands up and stretches. "Despite not doing much, I'm feeling tired. So I'll leave you down here. GP said she'll cover for me, so try not to get to emotional. Kay?"_

_Ryu gives a nod of his head, hisses and then gratefully takes the pill and water that Hank gave him. "Get some rest, you've had a tiring day and if I recall, you only got out of the hospital today."_

_Ryu gives a grateful nod, settles down and closes his eyes._

_Moments later, he was snoring away._

* * *

_'WAKE UP!'_

"Wagh! Ooof!" Struggling with the sheets, Ryu manages to excavate himself out of the blanket he was wrapped in. Blinking, he groans as he realises he was on the floor. "Wha?" '_Bout time you woke up! Your body wants food and I believe food will be ready soon?'_

Groaning, he thumps his head with his palm, slumping back down and hissing when the back of his skull hits the ground. '_Careful! I don't like healing your injuries! You shouldn't be getting them anyway!'_ "Yeah yeah... How long was I sleeping for?" The tingling feeling and rush of warmth dealt with the bruise on the back of his head. '_All better. Don't do that again! Anyway, Um... It was a while? I wasn't keeping track. Oh! Try asking fluffy! And use your inside voice, not your outside one. And maybe...'_

A sigh and Ryu struggles to his feet. He was a bit dizzy, but he managed to maintain his position. A quick look around shows neither hide nor hair on the blue, furry mutant. "Mr McCoy?"

Wait, fluffy? _'That's his new nickname!' 'Just, call him Beast...' '... Fine...'_

There was some shuffling from the next room, before the blue furry genius poked his head out form the doorway. "Ah! Ryu! About time you woke up. You've been unconscious for..." A quick look at the clock. "My goodness. 12 hours!? You must be starving!" Ryu's stomach gave a grumble in agreement, earning a blush from the teenage ninja. Hank gives a sigh, looks back in the room he came from, before closing it. "Come on then, Lunch should be ready soon."

Blinking, Ryu frowns in confusion. "Lunch?" He looks at the clock on the wall and almost slips onto the floor again. "It's half one!?"

"In the afternoon. Yes. That's what happens when your mind overloads and needs a cooling down time." He moves over to the other door in the room, before glancing back. "Coming?"

Ryu nods his head, stands up and pats the back of his pants free of any dust. He then tags along after the beast. Still, at least GP wasn't telling him to hug him again. '_Do you want me to? I know you're feeling a bit uncomfortable about the last time so I am perfectly content with that single attempt_.' Ah, that explained that. It was a bit awkward so he was grateful she was holding back now. He notes that Beast stood a bit away from him on the lift and can't help but chuckle. "Don't worry. It was a one time thing."

Beast flushes slightly and coughs into his hand. "Ah, that's good to know." He notes his body losing a bit of tension and offers a grin. At least the little compartment was a little less stifling now.

A ding signals the door opening and the pair step out. Beast leads him down the corridor and past the main steps. Approaching one of the doors to the side, he could start smelling something delicious being made as well as a sense of doom?

* * *

As the door opens, he sees Ororo attending to something over the stove as Kitty sets down a tray of muffins. Ororo's mutter of saving it for after lunch brought a sigh of relief from Kurt, who spots him as he looks away from them. "Ryu! Glad you're back with us."

A questioning look was given when Kitty comments as well. "Jean told us that you over-exerted yourself. That is not a healthy thing to do y'know." He blushes, cheeks going red.

_'Careful, your telekinesis is trying to act up_.' "Um, sorry?"

_'Was that directed at me?'_ "It's alright, don't worry. Control will come to you soon enough. Just have patience." _'It was kinda directed at both of you.'_ '_Oh, well, it's alright.'_

_'-ve Ry - ffins of do...' 'Huh?'_

_ 'Sorry! That thought got through my net. Ignore that...'_ Urgh.

Nightcrawler nudged him gently when Kitty turned away, whispering. "Whatever you do, don't try her muffins."

Ryu blinks and whispers back. "Why."

"Ever ate a brick? Those are more lethal." Ryu just stares at Nightcrawler then at the muffins. Harder than Bricks? _'I, find that highly unlikely. No one can screw up a muffin that bad...'_ Yeah. He was probably just exaggerating. They looked normal enough.

He feels his body heat up a bit as GP tentatively reaches out to poke one with his telekinesis. Beast, who was standing next to him, felt the rise in temperature and raises an eyebrow. "Ryu?" '_... Odd..'. _

_'What?'_ "Um, yes." '_Wow, talking and think is really hard...'_

_'Am I poking a muffin or the counter?'_ "You're heating up." Was hissed at him.

GP releases her control, returning to his mind as she grumbles about how inaccurate she was with his telekinesis. "GP was trying something. Nothing to worry about."

Beast's response was cut off when Ororo puts a large pot of pasta on the table and he detects the scent of, fish? Tuna? "Lunch is ready. Can you two let everyone know?" Kurt and Kitty both salute, with him dissappering in a bamf and Kitty casually walking through the wall. With them both out, Ororo turns to the muffins and moves them away form the table. "She found a new recipe she wanted to try out... I couldn't stop her. Sorry."

Beast gives a sigh, picks up a muffin and slips it into his jacket. He then grins. Ororo picks one up as well, opens a cupboard and then a black bag before putting one in there. Ryu was confused as they do so, and comments as she closes the bag and cupboard up. "Why..."

They both look at him. "Believe us, it's for our safety. Do you want us to hide yours too?"

He shakes his head. "I may as well try it. She can't of screwed them up that badly." They both stare at him. Why was he suddenly nervous. "... Right?" He's tried Jun's cooking before and lived! Kitty can't be as bad as her when it comes to cooking! That was statistically impossible.

Their expressions had him wonder if he should rethink this when Kurt appears in another bamf. He quickly looks around, grabs one muffin and then disappears in another bamf. He reappears a moment later, a satisfied grin on his face. "Needs less cooking time is mine." A moment later, Kitty phases through the roof, just as Bobby rushes in. He skids to a stop, curses and gives a resigned look on his face. As they gather for lunch, Jean and Scott appear.

Jean gives him a nod and a grin before spotting the muffins on the side, her expression dropping. Scott was about to ask what was wrong when he spots them and starts sweating. Now Ryu was really worried.

Lunch was an interesting affair. Kurt bamfed around, helping himself to everything as the others rushed to load their plates. Ryu stares as they begin chatting casually fighting off Kurt's attempts at seconds when he realises his plate was loaded up with some food. Ororo gives a wink before telling him that it was for the best. He gives a shrug and digs in, listening and sometimes joining in the chats.

* * *

Lunch was finished and he found himself helping Ororo wash the dishes and load them up. Kitty had dished out the muffins and was waiting expectingly at their reactions. Ororo, Beast and Kurt already mentioned having eaten theirs. Their reports was that she should add less salt, more salt and less time in the oven. The others gave the three a betrayed look as she gives a sigh and turns to the others. Once the final dish was done, Kitty offered him a muffin which he picked up.

_'Ryu... Are, muffins meant to be that hard'?_ He tried squeezing the bottom lightly. It wouldn't budge at all.

_'No... No it shouldn't.'_ '_Should I, atomise it?'_ He pondered on that.

_'That, is probably a good idea._ Was that Jean?

_'Ms Grey... How, did these come into existence... Even I know that muffins are never this hard.'_

_'Believe me little sis, these things are lethal. We need an excuse...'_

Ryu gave a sigh. He brings it up and happens to glance up. Why was everyone watching him? He lightly tries to bite it. Emphasis on try. _Oh god! How can it be that hard._ Ryu blinks, before lowering it. He could feel the tension in the room. "Kitty... What did you put in this?"

_'What are you doing!'_ "A pinch of salt, some butter and sugar. A bit of flour and milk. A few eggs. Umm... Some other things... I can't remember what exactly..."

He frowns. "How long did you bake them for? Did you fold the mixture right?" '_Ryu?'_

"I, think so. Why? Is something wrong?" Oh god, her expression was heartbreaking! '_That's why we don't tell her this!'_

"It's too hard. Let me see the ingredients. Maybe you did something wrong?" '_Just to let you know, you're not the first to try and get her to do it correctly!'_ He ignored that. He looked over the list, frowning some more. He then looks at the oven, a calculating expression on his face. "Show me how you make a smaller batch. Something isn't right."

"Oh.. Ok..." He glances back, noticing everyone had vacated the room.

He gives a grin. "Do you taste test what you make? Sometimes you can tell if something is wrong if you try it yourself first."

"Really?" She takes a hesitant bite from her muffin. She pauses. "Oh... I... see..."

She looks dejected. "Come on! You an only improve by trying! Like you said, just have patience " He gives a grin at her, making her chuckle and smile. As she starts, he finds himself intervening already. "No, it says this much butter. Weigh them out first before piling it all in." Wow. She was almost as hopeless as Jun was in the kitchen...

* * *

_**An intermediate amount of time later**_.

Urgh. He so regrets this tutoring session. Everything was wrong and when she tries to correct it, she somehow messes up the correct way of doing it. Is this what Jinpei felt when watching Jun try something in the kitchen? And he was covered in flour! He simmers quietly as he tells her it's ok, for the umpteenth time. "I said it's ok Kitty... I'm not dying you know!" His voice raised a bit, but even his incredible patience was wearing thin, GP was working overtime suppressing his powers and he had a sneaky suspicion Jean was nearby doing so as well. After 4 failed mixtures, having a bag of heavy flour land on his foot and explode everywhere, the pair was cleaning up the kitchen. Kitty was apologising, a bit of mixture on her but she evaded the flour mess by phasing through it all. "Maybe baking isn't for you?" he sneezes, body jumping slightly as the flour fluffs up.

"No, I know I can do it. It, just takes a bit of time and you telling me this and that keeps confusing me!" He gives a sigh, before suddenly wincing as a headache built up. Maybe something less stressful will be an idea?

"I'm going to go clean up..." She huffs, glaring at him as he trudges away. Thank god. Ororo meets him outside the door, a frown on her face at his white appearance "Shower first please..." She sighs and points to the steps. He continues on his path, as he looks down he spots a mini tornado sweeping up the mess he left behind.

A few minutes later, he was in the shower, trying to wash the flour out of his hair and body.

_'I don't see how she keeps messing up... You gave her clear instructions that even I could understand, and I don't even know what a sieve is!' 'Urgh. I know. It's like she inherited Jun's culinary skills, and by culinary skills he meant lack of it.'_ He grumbles as he keeps up his battle with his hair. It was already a mess but flour and water just made it a gelled mess._ 'Let me.'_ The warm shower suddenly heats up as he feels his hair suddenly free itself from the gelled mess. He pauses as the clump of white matter lands on the floor, staring at it.

_'Why didn't you tell me you could do that?'_ '_I, um, was. Uh...'_ He stops, blushes and turns the water off, hurrying in grabbing a towel and wrapping it around himself._ 'Please tell me you weren't watching me?'_ '_I'm not going to lie...' ... 'I'm not saying anything else!'_

"Urgh." Cheeks red, he looks back at the mess, before looking around for something to dump the sticky gelled mess into. He spots a little bin, before staring at it. Well, may as well try moving it into the bin. Maybe he should try with his powers? '_Are, you sure? Your control isn't that great yet...'_ _'Yeah.'_ But with his realisation he was being watched in the shower gave him some wrong ideas and looking at the flour in it's state now, it looked completely wrong. '_...OH ME!'_ Was her exclamation. So she was thinking what he was thinking. Now, how to move it to the bin._ 'Vaporising in 2, 1...'_ The room heats up again and the mess promptly starts crumbling, until it starts disappearing from sight. Well, that was a lot more easier than he thought. '_Please don't think that again...'_ He could feel her embarrassment and he was matching it.

_'Then stop watching me shower!'_ was his reply.

_Ryu, please stop mentally shouting. I could catch your entire conversation and I really wish I didn't._ His face went completely red. _'And by the w'_

'_GAH!'_ He could feel Jeans presence get shoved out as she was about to say something else, but the door into his mind slams shut and then pure embarrassment fills his mind, before he feels the mental barriers around him strengthen a bit more.

"... I think I've hung around with Joe too long..." _... I'm not going to dignify that with an answer!_ He gathers his floury clothes in one hand and peeks out the doorway, checking to see if the coast was clear. He then dashes to his room, closes the door and drops the clothes next to it, the sound of a door opening down the hallway meant that he just missed Jean probably telling him off for shutting her out so suddenly.

_'Um, Ryu...' 'Not now please. I'm dying from embarrassment already...'_ He starts getting dressed, dropping the towel as he rummages into his underwear drawer.

'_RYU!' 'GP, unless it is really important, please let me just get dressed in peace'_ He stubbornly states as he reaches for fresh pair... '_You have a guest behind you...'_

He freezes as he was about to start putting his underwear on. '_Wait, what?'_

A cough from behind him and he slowly turns his head to look behind him. Janet was standing by the cupboard, red faced and looking a little uncomfortable. There was a suitcase with his clothes in it open on his bed and she was in the process of hanging up a shirt for him. But she was currently frozen in place, probably from him rushing in in just a towel, then starting to get dressed. "Um, Jean said, I thought, I was... I'll be outside." Her cheeks went even more red as she shrunk and flew out the open window.

_'... At least you were facing away from her when you dropped the towel and started rummaging'_ .. A knock on the door manages to knock him out of his daze.

"I tried to warn you, but you kinda shut me out... Literally." Came the muffled voice from the other side. '_Sorry...'_ Today was not his day and the shaking dresser was NOT helping... _'Yeah, I'm on that...'_ Still not his day...

* * *

_**A Quick change later**_

Ryu gives a sigh, now dressed and sitting on the floor, his cheeks wouldn't stop with the redness but it looked like Jan wasn't any less embarrassed nor was Jean. "Let's, not talk about that again?" He nods in agreement and feels GP do the same.

Jan finally coughs to help hide her embarrassment. "So, I brought you some clothes for your stay here. Not all of them, just some." He nods his head. "And your old uniform is on the desk..." He glances at it and his number 5 shirt was indeed there. "... There's even a card for you from the Avenger's. A hope to see you soon one." She rustles around in his suitcase, before pulling out an envelope.

She hands it to him, unable to look him in the eye, not that he blames her. He couldn't even look her in the eye. But he takes the card with a quick bow. "Thanks Jan."

She offers a hesitant grin. "Still, your control's improving right? And so soon." His questioning look has her explain. "When you go emotional or embarrassed, stuff happened and I can barely feel any vibrations."

"Um, GP is holding it all in."

She looks up, about to comment and then goes oh. "Your eyes are fiery..."

He gives another sigh. "That's GP working overtime on suppressing my powers whilst also telling me to get over it..." He shifts a bit more, before sighing. His eyes dim slightly as his face starts recovering their colour. Both girls then nod, making him wonder why they did that, before rubbing the back of his head. "So, um... Thanks for bringing my clothes over." He looks the envelope over, before opening it. It was a simple good luck card and the inside had most of the Avengers signatures, as well as the Fantastic Four's as well (complete with a little drawing of a fireball above them). He gives a soft smile, before marching over and placing the card next to his old uniform. He can't help but grin at the sight. Old and new, side by side.

Feeling the card vibrate slightly, he narrows his eyes and focusses. What felt like A few moments later, the trembling stopped and he jumps when he feels a hand clap his shoulder. Swinging around, he stares at Jean, hand on his chest as he pants. "Don't DO that!"

Their laughter was relaxing and he was glad the earlier event was mostly forgotten. _'Great Work Owl!'_ "Sorry Ryu, but you were focussing so hard on controlling your powers you lost track of time. Good work by the way. Took a minute and a half, but you did it on your own." _'Yeah! Now we need to work on your awareness and speeding it up.' _"But at least you know how to do it now. So all you need to do is work on your..."

Ryu interrupted. "Awareness and Speed right?" Her annoyed expression made him laugh. "GP beat you to it!" Her laughter in his mind had him suddenly chuckle as Jean rolls her eyes. "As long as your impromptu cooking lessons with Kitty are done, we can probably retry another attempt soon."

Jan blinks. "Kitty... Is cooking again? Oh boy..."

They were distracted when the door was knocked on. "Ryu? Are you in there?" Familiar voice. Aha! It was Scott. The door opens a moment later, just as Janet shrinks in size and hides behind Jean. "Have you seen, oh! There you are Jean. you haven't been answering your telepathic calls."

She chuckles and flicks some hair from her fringe back. "We had a, slight situtation earlier." His concerned expression grows more concerned. "Nothing to do with that. Just, some mis-understandings. Just talking to the the bird and the bee."

He suddenly blanches, before stuttering out. "I'll, talk to you later then. Let you two go in, on with that conversation." He disappears pretty quickly and Ryu suddenly bursts into laughter.

"Birds and the Bee! That was a good one! He'll only would of heard talk and then Birds and the Bees." Jean smirks as she spots Janet stumble onto her back, laughing it up in her small form as she regrows to her normal size.

"Well, technically Owls are Birds and Wasps are kinda similar to bees Soo." Janet pauses in her laughter long enough to stick her tongue out, before dissolving into fits again. Jean chuckles a bit as well before leaving the room, intent on finding out what Scott wanted to talk to her about.

Once they both recovered, Janet and Ryu smile. "Well, I can't stay long. I kinda slipped out without telling anyone so I'm sure I'm going to get a call from someone soon. But we are all hoping you'll recover and gain control of your powers soon." She gives a brief hug to the Owl, before shrinking again and taking off through the window.

He gives a smile and looks at the card he was given on the table. Jean pops her head back in and smiles softly. "What do you say? Another training session? Scott says it wasn't important so I'm free."

He gives a chuckle. "Sure. The sooner I control this power the better right?"

"Yeah. But first, I think you need to do something else." His questioning expression was met with a finger pointing to the case of clothing on his bed. "You may want to put those away. I'm pretty sure you will want to fall onto the bed once we're done."

Ryu gives a nod as her head leaves the room. _'And DON'T use your powers! It's not precise enough for that level of control just yet' _He blushes at her mental statement, GP snickering in the back of his mind. Grumbling, he still complied with the order. Besides, it was a one time thing that caused him to blackout. What were the chances he would do so again?

* * *

_**Intermediate amount of time later**_

Ryu stumbles into his room, slightly sweaty but not honestly caring. Falling onto his bed, he rubs his face into the sheets, sighing wistfully. _'Bet your glad you cleared the bed earlier now aren't you?'_

Ryu just gives a happy groan in response, before rolling over and squinting. _'The roof sure is nice...' 'You need to rest. Go to sleep. I'll watch over you.'_

He gives a sigh and closes his eyes, before blinking them open a moment later. _'Wait, don't you need to rest as well?' 'I've slept for almost two weeks from yesterday. I'm well-rested.'_ He hums, wondering if Phoenix physiology helped. He then sighed. He wasn't entirely sure about that, so he decided to make it easier on her. Shifting positions, he brings his hands together and assumes a meditation position. He starts stilling his mind, keeping his breath calm and steady.

In, and out... In, and out...

_'You don't have to do_ this...' The inevitable complaint was sent to him._ 'It'll still be helpful. Jean did say meditating will help me control my powers, or at least lessen the effects so that it's virtually negligible. The fact that it helps both of us is just a bonus' _The sigh afterwards made him grin in victory. Score one for the Owl.

In, and out...

_'Fine, I'll let you do your meditation. I'll rest a bit, just because your telling me to do so...'_

In, and out...

Her presense retreats from his mind and he feels a lot more empty. But he wanted her to rest as well. Now, to clear the mind...

In, and out...

Control your breathing...

In, and out...

Empty his mind...

In, and out...

Relax...

In...

* * *

_**The next day**_

Ryu gives a yawn as he stretches. Several thumps nearby had him blink blearily but he honestly didn't think it was important. Rolling over, he rests his arm under his pillow as he curled up a bit. The birds were singing their songs and the vague scent of the morning air was soothing and calming. The perfect picture of tranquillity...

Broken by the sound of the door knocking and a fairly high-pitched voice. "Hey! Ryu! Time to get up! Breakfast is going to be ready in an hour." He gives another groan, before glancing around. lifting his body up and tiredly rubbing his eyes. A few more thumps and a ding caused him to turn to the desk and the aforementioned object, that looked like a clock on it's side and slightly crumpled as if it was squeezed.

He stumbles to his feet, scavenging in his drawers and closet for a change of clothes and some toiletries. Folding the clothing and laying them on his bed, he opens the door and peeks out. Kitty was waiting outside the bathroom door in a fluffy pink bathrobe, glances at him and frowns, not very pleased. Jean comes out a moment later, in a green one robe and a towel around her hair. She doesn't look up at him, instead just heading to her room. Kitty quickly steps into the bathroom a moment later, the clicking of the door had him sigh. Teenage girl, so, about 15 to 20 minutes?

He closes the door and re-enters his room. He pulls out his own bathrobe, and sets everything by the doorway. Glancing around the room one more time, he drags himself to his bed and lays himself down flat on it. He reaches across and sets the alarm for 15 minutes. There. Now he was ready...

What felt like a few seconds later, a noisy alarm woke him up. Grumbling, he rolls over and tries to hit it. It works, the dreaded machine turns off as he stretches. Sitting up, he trudges along to the doorway and peeks out again. Rubbing his eyes, he smiles upon seeing no queue. Grabbing the toiletries and gown, he stumbles towards the bathroom. Upon reaching the door, he notes that the occupied lock was still on, so he settles himself against the wall and relaxes against it.

A moment later, he feels a presence shift around in his mind. _'Ohayou Gozaimasu Ryu... Thanks for letting me rest! I feel a lot more alert now!' _He chuckles. _'It's alright. You've done so much for me and the team, I'm just glad I can do things for you.'_ She shuffles a bit in his mental landscape. _'As long as you stay alive, you're doing plenty enough for me...' _Aww...

The door opens a moment later and Kitty comes out, spots Ryu and blushes, before hurrying down the corridor to her room, muttering something he didn't quite hear. Giving a shrug, he enters to do his morning business...

10 minutes later, he comes out, dressed in his robe and rubbing a towel through his hair. Once he was dry and dressed, he went downstairs to find the kitchen for morning breakfast. He could imagine it already. A nice cup of coffee in one hand, a bowel of cereal infront of him and the funny's from the paper in the other hand. Yep! Today was going to be a...

"Scuse me!" Ryu blinks, turns and gasps when he catches Kitty running through him. Hopping back and pressing against the wall, he tried to adjust to sensation of someone running through him...

"Wha?"

"Get back here!" Since he was pressed against the wall, he managed to avoid getting frozen by Bobby, who was sliding along the floor, creating an ice trail behind him as he chases after her. "Give them back!" She went through the wall, which had him curse, make a turn and vanish around the corner. Her head popped out a moment later, looked around, before grinning and running back down the corridor. Ryu watches, completely confused, before shaking his head clear. He carefully steps over the ice before heading to the kitchen.

Opening the door, he takes a few steps in before bumping against something hard. Looking up, he eeps at the image of Logan growling at him. "No funny business. Understand. If I catch you trying something... You'll wish you weren't born." He marches past the pale Owl, who shakes a bit. Now he knows how Galactor Goons feel when Joe is on the warpath.

Nightcrawler looks up from his cereal, and sighs. "You're so lucky to be in the girls wing."

Wait, he was where? _'I suppose that makes sense. Jean needed to be nearby encase your power acted up and you could probably do a lot of damage if she has to run all the way to the boy's wing.' _Oh... Well... That's neat... Suppose that's why Logan was so menacing.

_'Just ignore him Ryu. Logan is a little old fashioned and doesn't approve of girls and boys in the same wing.'_ Ryu glances at Jean, who gives a comforting grin. _'Although there are some complaints about it, I did have to mention that our powers can be quite dangerous if they went out of control. It turns out that it's a lot harder to argue against that and Logan didn't really want to freak out the others by saying you had a Phoenix Force in you as well. Also, you're reacting to Logan's mean look.'_

_'I've got it!'_ cam the cry from GP. He glances around as the cutlery stopped rattling and a nervous looking Nightcrawler staring at him with wide eyes. "Wow! Jean was right. You can't fully control your power can you?"

Ryu pouts, putting on the most dejected expression he could. "You didn't have to remind me..."

"Ah! Sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" He was panicking, thinking he upset the ninja while Jean just rolls her eyes and GP snickers in the back of his head.

He couldn't keep it up. "Ah, it's alright. It's why I'm here right?" Kurt's sigh of relief was silenced when the door bangs open, Bobby in a disheveled appearance looking around in anger.

"Where is she! I know she came this way!?"

"Bobby Drake! Why are you running around in your underwear!" Came Ororo's roar, an ominous crackle of thunder outside following that statement.

"But she" "No buts'! Get dressed and then come talk to us!" He huffs before running away when there was a crackle of lightning from her hand.

Ryu helps himself to some cereal, figuring out this was normal. That, and he really didn't think he could handle this without some morning sugar or caffeine, preferably both. Or maybe some tea? Tea with mackerel and rice! And some Onigiri! He scavenged around for a few moments, looking for a pot and some rice. That earned some confused expressions when he gave a manly squeal of delight when he found some sushi rice. Blushing, he busies himself with boiling the rice while setting aside some simple meats, fish and vegetables, explaining to a curious Ororo what he was doing and why he prepares it like he does.

Half an hour later he was setting down his ball of Onigiri, having shown the others how it's packed. A few dozen batches of different sizes and shapes of the rice treat was resting on the side and it was something even Kitty managed to do somewhat successfully. It was passable, but everyone made such a big deal out of it he wondered if this was the first thing she had done that wasn't almost lethal, although he did have to stop her from upending a bag of salt in it.

He decided to drop that train of thinking and instead helped himself to a few of the treats. Because seriously. How do you mix up a bag of salt with a piece of chicken!?

* * *

After a most satisfying breakfast, Jean escorted him downstairs for his next mental lesson.

"Ok Ryu. We were doing pretty well with Telepathy yesterday, so let's continue with that this time." They both sat down as she began the lesson, talking about the dangers of telepathy and various ways it can be controlled...

* * *

**_A/N:_ **_Just a day in the life for the X-men, now aware of the wonders of Onigiri (for those that don't know, it's a ball of rice, slightly salted with some choice filling added to it. you know those rice balls you see in Japanese Anime? Those things)._

_There will be some action coming soon. It just needs to build up a certain level of relaxedness and calm before I can shatter it quite cruelly. _

_And yes, I did shove Ryu into the Girl's wing of the mansion. There are a lot of reasons and explanations but despite all of those arguments for and against it, Jean herself knows that Ryu is an honourable teen and won't go around peeking in on the girls and if he can hold himself from peeping when his teammate wears those bird-styles (have you seen Jun's Bird-style? Both hers and the OAV version?), well, he won't be too shy about the other girls. And there is another reason that isn't explained. So let's see if you can guess it :p_


	4. The Horned Owl's new Flock

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own Gatchaman. If I did, I would change nothing._

* * *

_"Blah blah" in double-quotes is someone speaking_

_'blah blah' in single-quotes is mind speech_

_blah blah with no quotes is story text and Ryu's personal thoughts_

* * *

**_Previously..._**

_After a most satisfying breakfast, Jean escorted him downstairs for his next mental lesson._

_"Ok Ryu. We were doing pretty well with Telepathy yesterday, so let's continue with that this time." They both sat down as she began the lesson, talking about the dangers of telepathy and various ways it can be controlled..._

* * *

**_Several days later_**

The whistling of birds and the gentle breeze was the most relaxing thing Ryu ever knew. Well, that and the gentle sloshing of the waves. Still, it was all peaceful and relaxing and it was to this scene that Ryu finally felt secure in his abilities. His powers fed off of his emotions, which was exemplified by him subconsciously reaching out for GP's power and causing that to flare up. She can usually suppress that subconscious reflex if it wasn't too strong and work on suppress his abilities but at times his subconscious drew upon her power too suddenly for her to stop or it was too strong a draw to prevent, in which case she throttles her power for him so Jean and her can work on stopping his powers from damaging anything.

Several days and the amount of times his powers flared up without his permission was cut down by almost half. Jean said that it was 'pretty good progress', but he was a little disappointed. Still, she was the experienced Psion so if he was making pretty good progress he must have been. So he was on a break right now, resting his mind.

Scrunching his nose, he opens his eyes and watches a butterfly flutter away. Well, he was one with nature right now if butterflies were resting on his nose. He gives a sigh, before stretching. It was times like this he wished he was still with the Avengers. At least when things got boring he had people to hang around with. The others were too weary right now of suddenly ending up upside down or being thrown backwards without warning to hang around with him. This reminded him as he felt his power flare up on something nearby.

Looking to the side, he focusses on the bit of his power that was causing his backpack to float in the air, forcing it to land. Glancing around, he confirms that his sense of his powers was improving. It was the only thing his powers were levitating at that moment. Hah! Score one for the Owl! _'That's about 6 points for you, 83 for me and 41 for Jean I believe?'_ A groan. _'Come on! I've just learnt how to both feel out and suppress my power! It's only fair we restart the count!'_ The teasing reply had him pout._ 'Nu-uh! This way you're encouraged to be a lot more proactive in your lessons!'_ Arms crossed, he huffs. _'I'm already learning as best as I can! Did you have to do this point based system too!?'_

_'Ryu, you may want to come inside now.'_ Jean interrupted his comment. Sitting up and blinking, he glances at the mansion. _'It can't be time for another lesson... right?'_

_'No, but you should really come in.'_ Confused, he blinks when he feels something on the edge of his senses, something hateful, yet fearful. Wincing as the pressure on his head built up, he picks up his pack and heads to the doors. Scott opens it and urges him inside quickly, before his eyes widen and he collapses to the floor, clutching his temple and crying out. Whatever was approaching was full of emotions, filled with hate and fear, radiating in waves that overwhelmed his senses.

_'Jean!'_ GP cried out to the other Psion._ 'I'm on it! Focus Ryu! Block out the emotions!' _Panting in fear, he starts putting his lessons to use, blocking out the emotions and thoughts or in the difficult to block ones, puts up several barriers to muffle the noise. Jean and GP both worked on suppressing his powers that was causing the door to ominously creak and twitch, Scott looking worried as he glances out at the gates. The moment the doors were stable again, Scott lifted Ryu up and brought his arm over the back of his neck and then holding his arm to keep him propped up. He was then dragged/tugged into the mansion and to the sofas.

It took several minutes but the pressure in his head finally started going down, enabling him a chance to think. Opening one eye, he glances up and frowns. "What the hell did I just sense?" He winces when Jean jots down another line on a small pad of paper, a tally of all the time's he's cursed and winces again, knowing that he'll be giving a talk to about his language he's been displaying recently.

Scott gives a sigh and answers for him. "It is rare that it happens, but sometimes, someone whips up an anti-mutant frenzy at some point that they all assemble outside the gate and protest. They're usually peaceful so we don't do much against them. Jean and Storm usually go out to talk to them but Storm is away for the moment and Jean kinda needs to stay here to handle you."

Oh. That explains that. _'They're afraid of mutants... I can feel it. But they're also angry. Something about a little boy? It's hard to tell.'_ He gives a mental nod to GP. He could sense something about a boy in the chaos that erupted in his head but he didn't think it was important since a few dozen other noises were drowning it out.

A bamf signalled Kurt's entrance. "Does anyone know why they're doing it this time?" A shake of their heads was from the two experienced X-men, whilst Ryu continues to rub his temple in a soothing motion. "Verdamnt." A bamf and he was gone. Teleporting was so useful, he wished he had it. Preferably without the smell though.

Bobby comes sliding in a few moments later, a worried expression on his face. "Guys! Turn on the TV!" Glancing at each other, Scott turns on the TV and was greeted by the news-women outside the gates of the mansion.

_-"est anti-mutant protest has been picked up. Although sad for the tragic death of Billy Coen, it seems people have been unable to find the mutant responsible for this and has instead targeted the Xavier's Institute as their scapegoat." _A picture of a boy, about 11 years of age, appears on the top-right of the screen as the news-women continue her report. _"With tensions rising, the mayor ha-"_ The screen turns off a moment later as Scott angrily stomps off, cursing up a storm. Ryu was still reeling from the news.

"They blame us because we're mutants. Even she knows it, yet people are too emotional to think clearly..." Jean looked sad as she summarised what was happening. Ryu gives another wince as the barriers muffling the noise become a bit louder. '_-ing mutants!' '-en safe!' '-an is wor-' '-ow da-' '-eak min-'_ The barriers slam against the noises again, quieting them. He gives a sigh in relief, before wearily looking up as Bobby stomps away, muttering under his breath. "Come on, we'll start another lesson or something. It'll die down soon enough."

"If the Avengers were here..."

"Ryu, no."

"... Wouldn't they stop?" Ryu's question, although innocent, was something he already knew the answer to and knew couldn't happen.

She sighed, before deciding mind speak was better when Kitty came in. _'Ryu, you're undercover right now because we don't want to freak anyone else out that you have a Phoenix Force in you.'_

He sighed in response, before glancing at Kitty who was chatting away at how annoying being stuck inside was. "If you're that bored, you can always come down for a session in the Danger room?"

She freezes, looks back and eyes Wolverine wearily. "Um, I'm not that bored Mr Logan. I'll go do some chores or something!" She scampers off, making Ryu honestly wonder if his sessions were as tiring as Steve's.

Jean gives him a look. _'You're only saying that because you've had your sessions with me. I'm fairly sure Logan is tiring enough for you. I mean, he does have an accelerated healing factor so he can continue on when Steve wouldn't.'_

Ryu gives a shrug when Logan glances at him and scoffs. "Bunch of cowards. Chores over danger room sessions. Bah. How about you two?"

Jean shakes her head in a negative, before grabbing Ryu's arm. "Sorry Logan. Ryu's still learning to control his powers and all those people and their emotions caused a brief surge. Gotta stay on top of things and having his powers flare up from that is one of them." She tugs him away as Ryu shoots an apologetic look to the Wolverine, who merely grunts and stalks off for someone else to train.

As they moved down the corridor, Ryu suddenly winces again as the noise builds up again. Jean pauses and crouches near him as he falls to his hands and knees, gasping out and clutching his temple as if he feels his mind getting grated. "Ryu!?"

Gritting his teeth and clenching his eyes shut, he focusses on blocking it all out. Or attempting to. The voices were slipping through and the jumbled mess in his head was giving him a headache, on top of that he felt like something was ripping his mind apart.

He finally couldn't take it anymore, mentally shouting over it all. _'GP!' _A moment later, the noise dies away as the familiar heat builds up within him, then a calming song echoes within his mind. Panting, he lets the song wash away the noises, before he finally opens one eye.

Looking up at Jean, she looks worried but his attention was more on the walls, which looked like someone strong just pushed them outwards. Heaving, he stumbles a bit and ends up sitting down against the wall, hand clutching his temple as he mentally curses at how weak he was. The GP's voice echoes in their minds, sounding furious. _'It was a Psionic attack! Some guy out there channelled the thoughts of everyone to our direction! and tried tearing your mind apart'_ Ryu gives a grunt as the heat builds up, a lick of fire flaring up his arm as he tries to calm his Phoenix.

Jean frowns and looks in that direction. "I can't" _'You can sense him too! Can't you!?' _GP interrupted her and the reply came from Jean's Phoenix Force, sounding equally as angry. _'Yes, I sense him. A powerful mind concealing himself against your mind.' _Jean looks worried whilst Ryu starts calming his breathing.

A moment later, Logan rounds the corner, looks around and hesitantly steps closer. "Ok, what the hell happened. I just heard Ryu call out to someone call GP in my mind and it was freaking loud."

Jean glances at Logan, before widening her eyes. "Logan! There is a Psion out in that protest that just attempted a psionic attack." He pales, remembering what happened the last time she was psionically attacked. "We need security cameras on the group as soon as possible so we can identify them." Logan nods his head, turns and runs down the hallway to the lifts. She then takes a breath and mentally sends messages out to the others.

Ryu in the meantime, was recovering. With GP now in the forefront of his mind, whoever was attacking them would not be entering his mind anytime soon. When he finally felt stable, he slowly rises to his feet, shaking slightly as he uses the moment of peace GP was giving him to strengthen his mental defences. So it wasn't that he was mentally weak it was a more powerful Psion attacking his mind. That thought made him feel a bit better.

Jean started showing her mastery of her powers. Helping him up, she continued issuing commands and mentally relaying the information she was given from the others, whilst also physically working. He could barely walk and focus his powers. A moment later, Kurt bamfs in, dressed in his uniform before placing a hand on both of their shoulders. A moment later and a tugging sensation, they both appeared in the war room in a cloud of brimstone.

Looking up in a squint, he spots several screens, one of which was several sizes larger and focussed on some guy with tattoos on his face. "We've identified the Psion. He's called Mastermind, a mutant with psionic capabilities to create illusions." Logan was fully serious, already suited up. "The main problem is that he's apparently amplifying the hate and anger on the people here, which works as a distraction to keep us at bay. If we approach, the media will get an earful of what we do. If we don't approach, Mastermind will keep up his mental attacks on our Psion's." He gives a glance at the others as Jean finally arrives, also suited up.

Giving a sigh, Logan doesn't say anything else, but he can hear him calling out to him in his mind. Frowning, Ryu connects his mind to his. _'Owl, are you up to revealing to the others that you're the Horned Owl, want to take up a different persona? Your call.'_ Ryu glances around, watching the students with a weary gaze. They were all nervous but resolute. The few days he's spent here was nice enough, barring the pranks but that was typical behaviour for people. That and he trusted Logan and Jean. The Former was an Avenger as well whilst he has been spending a lot of time with the latter in his attempts at learning his powers. After a brief look around, he turns to the Wolverine and makes his reply, having made his decision. Stepping forwards, he brings his arm in a circular motion and calls out, bringing everyone's attention to him. "Bird Go!"

A flash of light and out stepped the Horned Owl. Most of the students are taken back by this, stumbling back with a loud exclamation of shock and/or surprise. Although his leadership qualities was sorely lacking, he still knew enough rudimentary knowledge to add to a tactical forecast. He could even feel GP trill out her happiness at his transformed appearance. "I'm going to cut you all off before you say it. None of you asked if I already had a costume." He gives a fairly cheeky grin at the others as their minds finally grasp that he was an avenger who went all Phoenix-y last week. "As you know, I've gained a Phoenix Force, like Ms Grey here. When she said my powers were similar to hers she meant it." He chuckles, before going serious. "My powers are still developing, which meant that the mental attack this Mastermind sent was picked up by my powers easily enough. GP, that's my Phoenix Force by the way." _'Hiya everyone!'_ "She says hi too. Managed to pick up the traces of his psionic attack. I may not know a whole lot about your past yet, but I have been told the basics of what happened the last time someone tried psionically attacking Ms Grey."

He gives a brief glance over the group, most stunned by this knowledge he was giving... Or from the fact his Phoenix Force said 'hi' as well. "Luckily, GP is a lot less boom-inclined." _'Two-time thing! It was only a Two-Time thing! Are you people going to KEEP bringing that up every time!?' _A particularly non-ladylike snort form Jean had her wave off those concerned. "So we have several objectives. Our target is hiding amongst a group of civilians using them as both a shield and an attack platform. These people, most likely aren't willing participants so we shouldn't get them involved. Not only that, but the media is there, recording all of this. Any violent activities would become public and can cause an incident if we're not careful."

Logan stands up to join him. "So listen up! We need to separate Mastermind from the protesters. Quietly and cleanly. Without the media spotting the incident or any witnesses." He glances at Kurt. "You're going to be the one separating him. Your power can get him out of there in an instant with relatively little noise." Ryu watches the screens, noting that it was in real time as he spots several patterns. "Jean, you and Scott are coming with me to 'calm' them down and keep their attention on us. Kitty, Bobby, you both make sure to keep the other students in and away from trouble."

"There is approximately 23 people gathered out there, of which, 2 are young people and 3 are elderly. One news-woman, a Camera man and I'm fairly certain there is a microphone guy." Scott nods his head, agreeing with the strategies and tactical forecast that was given out by Logan and Ryu. It made sense. Both have trained under Captain America as well as military training. "I know you don't trust in my abilities just yet, so that's why I'm going to be on the highest point nearby and be relaying the situation as it plays." He grins at the confused expression on some of the X-men. "I'm vulnerable to this guy. GP can block him out but it will take a few moments. Best to avoid that the entire thing and do something useful at the same time. Right?"

Logan looked impressed while Jean looked quite proud. Ryu gives a grin, before heading to the doorway. "Make sure to let us know what you see. Hank should have some binoculars for you to use. Just go ask him. And a Comms link too. Don't trust your telepathy just yet." Ryu nods his head and leaves the room to fetch the item from Beast. Although he can't help but feel a bit insulted at that last comment...

* * *

It took a few minutes, especially since he had to jump up without attracting attention to himself, but he was now perched by a window, looking out to the protesters. He puts his binoculars to good use, trying to locate the target. He frowns, unable to locate him. He taps the Comms system. "I can't see him..."

"Are you sure? He's here on the cameras."

Ryu blinks, before suddenly realising something. "Wait, you said he can create illusions? Maybe he's made it so no-one can see him, but technology isn't affected by it. Right?"

He waits for a reply, and grins at the grudging reply. "From the New-women, from the gate, he's the third person in front of her, 2 to the left."

Taking those into consideration, he counts down three and then 2. Before snapping his sight onto the brown-haired guy in the blue polo shirt, shouting out. He glances at the people to the sides, before responding. "The one between the red head and the old man?"

A snicker at his phrasing, but it works. "Confirmed. That's the one."

"The target, to me, has brown hair, a blue polo shirt, I, think that's Khaki shorts and a backpack."

He waits for a reply, then a few minutes later, Kurt confirmed. "I see him. Are we continuing with the plan?"

"Roger that elf. Jeanie, Scott. Let's go. Stay in touch X-men." From the mansion, the three tiny figures start their march to the gates to speak to them.

Ryu nods his head. "Roger that. Owl out." He keeps the binoculars trailed on the group, keeping an eye out for the group and the civilians He gives a grin, suddenly reminded of the minor title Nambu gave him. "Heh. The Owl, watching over the flock from the Phoenix. Even without my ship, it's still a relevant representation." _'And guess who gave him that idea!' _Ryu chuckles, feeling her puff up her chest in pride. _'Was it a beautiful Phoenix by any chance?' _Her reply made him smile. _'Aww... Thanks.'_ And the feeling of a warm hug surrounds him.

As the three approach the gates, the shouting gets louder and the news-women barges forwards. Luckily, the target stays a bit back, away from the firing line but still in the fringes of the crowd.

He almost misses it, but the glint in his binoculars peripheral grabbed his attention. Snapping his attention to one of the protesters, he spots one of them pull out a gun. He smacks his ear, turning on the Comms and also causing a brief stinging sensation that was rapidly engulfed in heat that kept the pain away. "GUN! Second row, 5th from the gargoyle!"

Jean's figure responds, appearing to massage her temples but he could see the gunman drop the gun. Now that it was on the floor, getting it within the crowd would be tough. Still, he gives a sharp look through the group, spotting the mastermind again as a puff of smoke appears behind him. A bottle was thrown by another protester but was simply side-stepped by Wolverine and as Kurt takes the illusionist away, the shouting gradually starts dying down.

Some of the people look a bit confused, angry, but confused, as the three do their best to calm the mob. After a few more minutes, the protesters starts dispersing and Ryu gives a sigh in relief that nothing too serious happened. He spots the gun on the floor and glares at it. _'That's quite a range... Didn't realise that...'_ He blinks as the gun vibrates slightly, before frowning and cutting off his powers, again. He catches Jean turn to look up at him and he blushes. _'Um... I have some range it seems...' _She shakes her head as the other two look at her in confusion.

As the group starts heading back, he feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight, a slight buzzing as if his mind was alerting him to something. Logan mirrored his expression, before spinning around and looking around with a sharp stare. Jean frowns. "You feel that?"

"No, I _smell_ it! Machinery. Familiar machinery!" Jean and Scott both spin around, going back to back in a triangle formation. "How do you know?"

"I have a bad feeling about this..." He blinks, before grinning despite the feeling. "And no, I'm not talking about the force."

A few snickers, before he catches movement off from the sea. "Sea!"

Scott happens to see it before the others since he was facing in that direction. "Sentinel!" It was falling apart, looking virtually destroyed and Ryu had to question on who sent it. It pointed one arm at the three mutants and a cannon pops up from the wrist. The three scatter as the machine fires, blowing up the area they were just in. A beam of red light comes from the dust cloud a moment later, hitting the machine and causing it to stumble as Logan rushes towards it.

A metal hand rises from the cliff edge, before another sentinel rises up. Followed by a third. The X-men started dealing with them, Bobby coming sliding out and joining the attack. Iceman proceeds to freeze one leg down when a fourth hand comes from the cliff edge. How many more were there! One machine grabs Logan, pinning him down as a large spike erupts from its other arm.

A crackle over the radio had Ryu pause in his attempts to join in as he feels a heat build-up in his mind. "-me in! Anyo- -thing ther-".

Ryu frowns, before his form erupts into fire for a brief moment and the Sentinels disappear. "Wha." _'Freaking mind illusions! Mastermind is sending out his illusions!' _"I repeat! There is nothing there! Logan! Scott! Jean! Damnit! Kurt! Anyone!"

"Beast?"

"Ryu!? Thank God! Mastermind has been sending out illusions against everyone. I'm wearing my mind warding helmet right now, but the others are under his influence!"

"Hold on, I may be able to help Jean."

"Just Jean?"

Ryu nods, not that Beast could see, but he was gathering his focus. GP was adding some of her own power and they latched their mind to hers. Taking a deep mental breath, he shouts out loudly. _'JEAN!' _He gives a somewhat satisfied grin when she suddenly stumbles, before her eyes widen at the scene around her. _'Ryu!? I could have sworn we were sur... Mastermind...' _GP comments. _'Sis, you may want to shield her from that guy's control.' _Ryu holds the edge of the ledge with one hand, before jumping down. Dropping several floors, he waits before letting his wings snap out and slow his descent to a smooth glide to the back-door.

"Beast?"

"Jean! Thank God Ryu's plan worked. Whatever it was."

"Phoenix's. Listen, I'm going to free the team's mind from his influence, but." A puff of smoke and then her Comms system fizzles out.

"Crap! Kurt's under his control. Ryu! Be careful! We-" Another puff of smoke, and Ryu reacted on instinct. Spinning around, he slammed the palm of his hand against Nightcrawler's face, knocking him back and onto his back, unconscious from the blow. Ryu flushes, before kneeling down next to him to check him over. "- need to be careful and... Ryu... Did, you just knock Kurt out?"

Ryu blushes. "Um... Apparently... Isn't Mastermind's in the Danger Room, isn't he?"

"Con... Crap... He's heading towards Cerebro! Move Out Ryu!" A click and pounding feet made it sound like Hank was rushing towards Cerebro. Ryu rushes to the lift, before he freezes just before entering. GP whispering something into his mind. As he finally steps in and presses the lower levels, he frowns, before deciding to try out her idea. It would take a good few moments to get there and then run to Cerebro, so maybe...

As the door closes, he whispers out... "Kaguku..." The door closes, cutting off what he was saying, but a red glow comes out from the gap before fading away as the empty lift moves down.

* * *

The cloaked man glides into the room, eyeing the machine that was only a few feet away from him in envy. But he gives a grin and rubs his hands together as he makes his final approach. Cerebro, a machine that empowers a Psion's mind enough to be able to detect mutants appearing in the world, or in his case, place the entire world under an illusion. He gives a grin. So close!

Before he could reach it though, fire sprung up between him and the machine, quickly building up and making him stumble back in fear of getting burned. The flames then form into a Phoenix, before spreading its wings and then fading away, revealing Ryu standing between them, panting as if he just ran a marathon, although his bird-style was now a curious mix of his original green and brown colours and a new red and blue scheme, shimmering and flickering between the replaced colours and the original ones. Flames still licked over his body, giving him an impression that he was about to combust again, but Mastermind growls and tries infecting his mind again.

Except with the power of the Kaguku Ninpo: Hinotori technique, accessing his mind was virtually impossible. So whilst Mastermind tried that, Ryu simply rears back one arm, a look of concentration on his face as his body shakes a bit. He then punches the guy across the face, launching him across the platform and against the wall, his body slumping down against the floor. "You are aware **that we **are one. Your **tricks are **not going **to **work on us!" His voice an echo, as if two was speaking as one. Which he was right now. Just like how he took out the Abomination and AIM's mecha's, the combined power from using this technique was undoubtedly powerful.

The door opens a moment later and the Beast comes charging in, before stopping himself from tripping over Mastermind's body. "Oh, thank goodness you got here... so... Ryu? My stars"

Glancing at Hank, Ryu gives a grin, his body coated in flames that was licking over his body as his wings were splayed out and coated if fiery wings. "Hey Mr **McCoy**. GP thought **of a neat** trick and **it worked**. Heh. Although the **voice thing** is taking a **bit of** getting used to..."

Beast just blinks, before sighing. He then reaches down and places a band around Mastermind's head. "I'm not going to ask. I'll take him down to detention and call SHIELD to pick him up."

Ryu gives a nod, focusses and then slowly breathes out. The flames die away as he does so, before he returns to normal. He stumbles a bit and rests against a panel. "I'm ok... Just a bit dizzy." Beast gives a sigh and hooks one arm around the Owl for support. Not fighting back, Beast escorts the two to medical, then leaves Ryu there so he could take Mastermind down to be secured in a psionically protected room. Ryu just rested against the bed, gathering his breath from the brief exertion of energy he just did.

He just managed to gather his breath and about to start dealing with the building headache when Jean came flying in in a flurry of matriarchal worry and fury. "RYU! What the hell were you thinking!? Your abilities would of left you vulnerable to hi-"

"Headache! Stop, please." The sudden yelling made his head pound even worse and his control tougher, as evident by the medical instruments nearby starting to shake as he rubbed his temples.

Jean opens her mouth to say something, pauses, before huffing. "Fine. I'm after GP though. You do know that right?"

Ryu gives a groan and flops onto his back. "Her idea." _'I told you! Push him against the wall! Not punch him! We were meant to work as one, not separately! You put the stress on your mind yourself by resisting my actions like that!'_ A wince and another rub to his temples, but Jean just sighs. "Don't regret it at all. Felt so satisfying punching him y'know..." _'... I'm NOT going to dignify that with an answer.'_ He gives a teasing grin, detecting the hint of amusement she felt. _'I bet you enjoyed it too.'_ He got no response from her.

Scott comes in a moment later, helping Kurt in who was holding a tissue to his nose. "-ow why mah bose is beeding..." Ryu blushes completely red, before quickly snuggling under the blanket and turning away from the pair. "Or why I nas in 'he ki'hen."

Scott was consoling him as best he could. "I don't know either. Maybe, one of the security systems got surprised? Or you teleported into something moving?"

He could feel himself sweating a bit. Don't see me, don't see me, don't see me...

"Ryu? You ok?"

Crap...

* * *

**_A/N: _**_The first bad guy is here! Say hello to Mastermind, a mutant capable of creating illusions (I've lumped him under psionic capabilities). And the Second introduction to Ryu's unique Kaguku Ninpo technique, the Hinotori, human form._


	5. The non-metal, metal man

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own Gatchaman. If I did, I would change nothing._

* * *

_"Blah blah" in double-quotes is someone speaking_

_'blah blah' in single-quotes is mind speech_

_blah blah with no quotes is story text and Ryu's personal thoughts_

* * *

**_Previously..._**

_Scott comes in a moment later, helping Kurt in who was holding a tissue to his nose. "-ow why mah bose is beeding..." Ryu blushes completly red, before quickly snuggling under the blanket and turning away from the pair. "Or why I nas in 'he ki'hen."_

_Scott was consoling him as best he could. "I don't know either. Maybe, one of the security systems got surprised? Or you teleported into something moving?"_

_He could feel himself sweating a bit. Don't see me, don't see me, don't see me..._

_"Ryu? You ok?"_

_Crap..._

* * *

**_The next day..._**

Ryu glances over his shoulders, highly nervous. He just knew he was coming! He has been all day, but was taking his time and building up the suspense! He gulps and peeks around the corner, fully expecting him to burst out and terrify him. The lack of that only added to his nerves. _'I still can't sense him at all Ryu...' _A silent curse. No way was he making it any easier. He looks up and hops ontop of the wall, taking a moment to look around briefly encase he was running towards him. Still no sign...

_'Why is he doing this! Can't he just get it over and done with!?' _He glances around, before slipping back down and against the wall. _'it's the anticipation GP. That's what it is. Anticipation... We're doomed, we know it, he knows it. He's just stretching it out and making us suffer!'_ He could just imagine anime tears flowing down from his eyes. He was too young to die! Although the low headache in his head that has been around for the past few hours probably wasn't helping.

He then freezes, before looking down the corridor he just came from, having barely heard a thump but a thump he heard. He could feel his heartbeat starting to race. Turning, he makes an educated guess and lightly dashes down the other way, using all of his ninja skills to do so silently. _'Why can't we take a page from Jean's Phoenix and blow the area up!?' 'Hey! That was extenuating circumstances dammit! And only twice! Stop bringing it up!_' A mental sticking her tongue out from GP to the other flashed in his mind and he just managed to keep from snorting out in amusement. Someone didn't though, the sound reverberating through the corridors, before the sound of laser fire attracts their attention. _'Dammit you two!' _Then a pair of sing-song voices. _'Not our fault!'_

Ryu gives a slight grin, before peeking around the corner. Seeing nothing, he steps out, before he feels, and hears a loud click and his foot sinks somewhat. The roof suddenly opens up and a turret comes down, aiming at the spot he just was, before scanning the area. Seeing nothing, it rises up, just as Ryu drops down from hanging on behind it. He resists the temptation to breath a sigh of relief. It would only be a matter of time until _he_ arrived. Ryu wasn't planning on sticking around. He was already down another corridor within a few seconds. _'God, this place is a maze! What was our objective again?' _

About to reply, he feels a slight resistance against his foot before it returns to normal, but in his hyper-aware state and highly paranoid, it was enough to grab his attention. Looking down, his heart drops at the little piece of broken string under his foot. This time, the roof and both walls slide open to reveal turrets. With no choice, he was already running like hell was snapping at his heels. About to turn down another hallway as the three turrets starts blasting away at him, the hall suddenly closes off, trapping him in that single stretch, just as Logan rounds the corner with a smirk. With all pretence of stealth gone, he proceeded to move onto the next best tactic.

Running away screaming his head off. It was a brilliant tactic. Logan now had a flabbergasted look, having not expected that to happen from the highly competent Avenger, which Ryu took full advantage of. It always worked wonders. Appearing to lose your cool gave the impression that his skills would deteriorate from the lack of focus, but Ryu, having found that out when Joe was chasing him for a prank, could use it to his advantage.

A flurry of blows to his arms had both of them locked in place as he realises he has just been had. A twist to his foot and he avoided Logan's foot, before grabbing it and striking at the pressure points on the knee. Logan realised a bit too late that that was his aim. Attempting to hop back and away, Ryu just jumped onto his chest, causing him to fall back before pushing down hard and clearing any pressure plates a few feet behind the Wolverine. With both arms and a leg out of commission for a moment, Logan was cursing up a storm as Ryu ran away cackling in glee. It won't work again now, but the expression on his face more than made up for it.

_'You do know now, that rather than dying in this maze, your going to die afterwards?'_ There it was! Rushing to his target, he was about to pick it up, when a Bamf came out and he encountered an outstretched arm at neck level. Unable to stop himself, he ended up running into it, choking himself briefly but also causing Nightcrawler to stumble as they both fall backwards. Gathering his bearings, he rises himself up, only to be greeted with a grin as Nightcrawler holds the target up with his tail. "That! Was for the nose!"

A brief alarm noise and the walls collapse down. The others were in various traps or sitting down by a falling wall, obviously having been tagged out. The room then fizzles before reverting back to the Danger room. Scott and Ororo's voice calling down from the tower. "Good work everyone. Your stealth skills have improved."

Logan, having managed to return to standing on one leg and using the wall as a balance, fell over again since his support was gone. He gives a growl at the nearby Iceman who snickered to himself. "Laugh it up Popsicle. My session is in the afternoon you know." He wasn't entirely sure, but the icy expression on his face made him wonder if he just paled...

Most likely.

Still, he had to gives an annoyed look at Kurt. "Didn't you already pay me back by stealing my towel when I was in the shower, while there was a queue of several girls waiting outside to use it?"

He adopts an innocent expression. "Who? Me? Never!"

"Despite the smell, GP telling me and your obviously loud thoughts while complimenting Bobby on giving you the idea while you were doing it?" He deadpans.

"It's all in your head!" was his retort. He just caught the call in his head too. _'Literally!'_

He felt his eye twitch. Before sighing. He then smirks, causing the Elf's expression to falter slightly. "Oh well. At least we're even now." He stands up, whistling a bit too happily for the Nightcrawler's taste as he walks to Logan. "Should I release those points?"

A grunt in reply, before Ryu glances back at Nightcrawler. As he jabs the pressure points again, getting his body working properly, he makes idle conversation. Logan's expression was a bit puzzled, before grinning. Now Nightcrawler was sweating a bit, seeing their expressions. As Ryu gives a stretch and heads to the exit, Forge rests a hand on his shoulder. "You know, maybe you shouldn't of gone that far. Because I think he just got Logan in on it."

Nightcrawler simply gives him a nervous grin. "Yeah... Maybe I should go. Before Logan rips my ears off..."

Logan gives a stretch, before turning to the two. "Elf!" His response was a bamf, causing him to blink. Shaking his head, he stalks out of the Danger room, following the others as they head off to unwind.

* * *

Ah, the sweet taste of freedom. Even if he was a little bit sweaty, the natural scent of the earth and sea masked it pretty well. He was perched on a branch, squatting down and holding the branch he was on with both hands as he looks out at the town nearby. A few moments later, he could sense Jean float up near him, causing him to turn to look at her.

"You know your control isn't yet good enough for visiting there on your own just yet."

He gives a sigh. His control was still shaky. He had a fairly decent grasp on it now, but it was the fine tuning that was giving him the most trouble now. Lifting up huge blocks with his mind. No problem. Dulling down mental noise? Not a problem. But lifting up a feather or completely shutting out mental noise. No chance. "I know Onee-San. But it does give me an aim right?" He gives a grin.

She matches his grin, causing his to falter for a moment. She rarely grins. Smiles, yeah, plenty, but that kind of grin was usually accompanied with something interesting or... His eyes widen. "Wait, on my own!?"

She rolls her eyes. "Your control is good enough that unless I'm yelling it in my mind or directing it at you, you can't hear. So that's good enough. GP and I can hold the rest back, so what do you say? Up for a tour around town?"

It must of looked weird, but he honestly didn't care. Sure, they were both suspended in the air by her telekinesis and they may have dipped a bit when he inexplicably threw his arms around her in a hug in his excitement, but he was much to excited to bother about those details. Floating down, he let's go, stammers out an apology, before rushing back in to get changed. He completely missed her eye's rolling again and her mutter of boys, but it was an affectionate statement.

Quarter of an hour later, Jean and Scott were showing him around town, pointing out local shops and restaurants as well as the public services such as the library and cinema. He eagerly lapped it all up. His eyes twinkling as he watches people go about their business with almost no care in the world. No matter how many times he saw it, he made sure to treasure the feeling. It was better than the people moving about in public, nervous about where Galactor would strike next and only relaxing when they were indoors. He got to see this when shopping with Janet, exploring the city back in the Avengers or even on TV, but it always brought happiness to his heart to see this, even IF some people were a bother.

Speaking of which. "Hey!" He couldn't help but exclaim as a guy bumped into him, causing him to spill his coffee over his shirt. Damn jerk didn't even apologise, just carried on. GP dealt with the burning sensation, so all he had was a wet shirt to show for it. Maybe the could suffer a trip suddenly as retribution?

Jean gives a frown. "Don't even try it Ryu. I know what you were thinking." Ryu just pouts, tapping his wet shirt with it's coffee stain.

"I wanted that Coffee too..."

"Suck it up. We're all a bit cramped here." They were too. A parade was going on so people were rushing around, trying to get a good view. Which meant the place was pretty cramped. He was grateful GP was suppressing the voices. He didn't want to think what it would be like having all these voices in his head at once.

"It's not fun, I can tell you that." Jean commented, grimacing as someone pushed her a bit this way too. "I can already tell you all that I just averted catastrophe half a dozen times already."

Ryu chuckles as Scott turns to her, worried. "Was one of them based on turning everything furry?"

She blinks. "... Yeah. That was plan 4... How did you..."

"I overheard GP talk about it a few minutes ago. I assumed it was either you or yours."

"Great. Conspiring with one another... Joy." _'Spoil sport. You know that it would make things better!' _

He shakes his head. _'No actions then please! Besides, you should be used to things getting in the_ way.' He pauses for a moment as a memory comes up, before blinking. _'Oh, I'm..' 'HAH! I remember that! It's a shame you couldn't see what the others saw on those mecha's! Some of those 'captain's look absolutely hilarious!'_

He suddenly pouted, before his face twists into one of suppressing something, before bursting into laughter. Jean looks confused, before her eyes widen in surprise before beginning to giggle. Scott looks plain confused until a picture of one of the captains from a mecha from Ryu's home entered his head. He quickly rammed one hand into his mouth and bit down, trying to suppress his own laughter as Jean finally utters out. "Seriously! You went up against guys like that!?"

Ryu just continues chuckling. "The bucket head had a hard head it seems, but didn't change the fact he looked ridiculous!" _'Although you do need to remember that the guy was pretty dangerous.'_ Ryu calms down almost instantly, adopting a focussed look. _'I know. But it's always nice to remember the amusing bits as well as the bad bits. Makes things not as bad in comparison...' _He looks at the balloon that was floating above the parade, showcasing the local football teams mascot, before sighing.

He frowns after a few moments, not entirely sure why his sixth sense was alerting him to danger, he scans the crowd. He blinks when he is nudged in the side. "Ryu? What's up? you look serious."

He glances at the pair, eyes showing confusion but also a bit of worry. "Nee, Jean-Chan. Watashi wa kore ni tsuite wa warui kanji o ete iru (1)" Her expression was completely confused, as was Scott's. He blinks, before frowning. _'GP, why did I switch over to Japanese?' _Her reply wasn't entirely reassuring. _'I don't know Ryu. It feels like everything is reverberating for some reason?'_ His expression mimics the other two. _'I hear it too. Like an echo?' _

He stumbles for a moment from the pair's push, their comment at speaking english ringing at the same time. Quickly bowing briefly and apologising to the large guy he bumped into. he then spins around and glares at the two.

"Watashi wa GP to no conversastion o motte ita! Nani ga push suru need wa arimasen (2)"

He blinks. "Naze language wa nihongo to English no kongō sa rete? (3)" He frowns some more, but pauses when someone starts screaming from the manhole cover blowing upwards.

A large hand suddenly rests on his shoulder. "Scott, Jean. You didn't tell me you had a guest with you." The pair look up and then grins. "Piotr! It's great to see you again. Well..." The screaming increases in pitch as the people start running. "Under the circumstances." The ground then shakes, causing everyone to stumble, before a figure in red and purple shoots up out of the sewers, spins in the air and hovers in place, glaring down at the spot he was just at. The three X-men widen's their eyes at the arrival and they say something, but all Ryu could hear was GP shouting out that the helmet was causing the echo and disrupting her universal translation capabilities that she gifted him. Then mental grumbling as he felt his body heat up a bit. _'My first gift to you and it's already being ruined... Well, let's see about that!'_ He could feel himself sweat-drop.

Turning to look at the two, or three X-men, he couldn't see them. A moment later the ground crumbles and a dark figure leaps out at the man in red. The guy sluggishly flings out his arm, sending a lampost at the figure, but it simply splatters like water around it and reforms, before continuing it's rush as the guy. A large sheet of metal is ripped from a building and sent to encase the creature, but it slips out through the gaps and leaps at the guy, it's arm reforming into what looked like a sword. Ryu's eyes widen, before narrowing, but before he could do anything the creature bounces off the air and stumbles back, landing with a splash and reforming into a black, almost stickman like figure as Jean Grey stands on the sidewalk, eyes narrowed in concentration.

She flickers her eyes between the two, wary about them both, but the guy in red looked really beat up and now that Ryu looked carefully, the red suit wasn't red simply because of it's dye. There were so many tears in it and the skin underneath was red and bleeding as well.

Ryu gives a sigh, before moving towards the group. The creature squats down somewhat, before sending several tendrils at the red headed psion and guy in red, only to be met with a beam of red light coming from the rooftop nearby. It glances up and spots Scott in his X-men uniform, trailing his beam eyes at the creature. Ryu gives a sigh, before his eyes light up with the beginnings of an idea and plan. Ducking into an alleyway, he jumps up and scrambles onto the roof, where he proceeds to transmute into his bird-style. Sliding the feather Shruiken dispenser to KO gas and dispensing it, he approaches the edge and looks down at the targets on the ground.

A guy in full metal had now joined the group, attempting to wrestle the creature but it simply deforms and reforms a few feet away from the metal man. The tendrils it shoots out creates a loud, audible ping when colliding with him but his visible wince showed that although it didn't pierce, it still hurt just from the impact. Taking a deep breath, he launches himself forwards and into the air, pulling upon his telekinesis to bolster the wings of his cape and gliding towards the fight whilst flinging the single feather down at the creature while it was away from everyone.

The creature bubbles ominously, just as the feather hits the ground next to it and dispenses a little cloud of gas. The creature stumbles, swaying in both directions as the bubbling ceases, before diving onto a metal grate, splashing and retreating into the sewers. Just as GP comments. _'I've isolated the reverberation. So at least you'll speak just Japanese rather than a mix. Give me a moment to get it all into English.'_

Ryu lands a few feet from the guy in red, his eyes trailing up his injured form. He could already tell that the old man was exhausted and injured, some of the cuts looked almost lethal, but he was completely wary of the group that was assembled before him. Ryu starts talking to him, hoping he at least understood Japanese because he didn't want the guy to make many movements in his condition. "Anata ga fushō shite iru! Watashi wa anata no kizu o mite mimashou. Watashi wa, iryō kunren o uketanode, shinpaishinaide kudasai. (4)" He pauses and frowns at the confused, yet wary expression on the old man's face. Great, so he didn't know Japanese either. He gives a grumble, just as his body heats up. "Anata no orokana anata no ue ni baketsu (5) head is confusing my translations... Oh, never mind." _'Done! Um, but you probably know that already. Heh heh.' _He gives a sigh.

Jean steps closer to him, her eyes not leaving the man in red. "Be careful Ryu, that's Magneto. One of the most powerful mutants on this world..."

Ryu shoots her a look, which surprises her somewhat at how stern he looked. "Who currently has multiple lacerations to his body, appears to have several holes puncturing his body as well and I'm pretty sure I can see blood leaking out from under that helmet." She glances at Magneto who looked surprised at that, but he was indeed bleeding and put into that perspective, she looked a bit less tense. "He may be a bad guy, but I am the Medic on my original team and this guy looks like he's about ready to keel over and die from blood loss." As evident by the man collapsing to one knee but stubbornly refuses to fall over completely.

Now that he explained that to Jean, he approaches the master of Magnetism, who now looked aged and weary. "You are a fool to lend aid to an enemy... A fool like Charles..."

Normally, he would be a bit insulted at being called a fool but he couldn't help but hear the affection in the tone he used. He places his hands on his hips and smirks at him. "I'd rather be a fool with a heart than a genius without one. Now, stay still and let me take a look at you. Some of those look particularly nasty." He kneels down and gives a quick examination to the man's wounds as Jean, Scott and Colossus keep their distance.

He gives a hiss in respect for the guy at some of these injuries. This guy may be older than virtually everyone he's known, but he's in tip-top condition if he can survive these injuries. "Yeah... You're going to need emergency aid soon, preferably now." He snaps his fingers infront of his face as he notices his eyes were glazing over slightly. "Hey, stay awake! You can sleep when your dead, which is not now!"

Thankfully, a van arrives a moment later holding the other X-men, who pale upon seeing Magneto (whether it was from just seeing him or his injuries, he wasn't sure.) Logan looks divided, before grunting. "Take him to the institute. Beast has some medical experience." Ryu nods his head, before the man struggles to stand. About to say something, He stumbles back and floats into the van, courtesy of Jean's Telekinesis. Ryu hops in as well, transmuting out and pulling off his jumper before pressing it against the worst wound. The remaining few minutes was spent doing emergency First Aid until they arrived at the institute, where he helped Jean lift the man out via telekinesis. Beast arrived with a gunnery where Ryu gave a brief run-down of what he did as they retreated to the sub-levels...

* * *

_**Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, Sub-Levels**_

Ryu was glad Beast was explaining what he was doing as he worked on Magneto. He understood bits and pieces of what he said but other things just went over his head, a testament to the difference between someone taught emergency first aid and someone who is essentially a fully qualified doctor. Still, GP was helping out in her own way, proving that although the Phoenix Force can be used as a destructive force, it is also a force of life, of rebirth. Ryu did have to hold back the bile upon seeing a white mucus like substance rising from one wound, but GP was using his eyes and he didn't want to disturb her focus. _'This is the infection that is in his body. Urgh, so that's what bile tastes like... ew...'_

So when Beast finally sighed in relief and tightened up a bandage, Ryu figured out that all was good enough now. "Well, whatever this creature was, it did a number on him. And I'll fully admit, that was a nifty trick. But forgive me if I still want to use antibiotics anyway."

Ryu nods his head with a grin. "It was weird. Like, black water that took on a stickmans shape. And thanks. GP wanted to try it out, although that is really, really disturbing." He glances at the white mucus substance in a tray and felt the bile rise back up.

"Fascinating. Let me get cleaned up and I'll review the video feeds from that area."

"It have various abilities..." The pair of them snaps their gaze down to the injured mutant, again amazed at how resiliant he was to pain. "One is the ability to teleport... Through shadows it seems." Beast hums as he nods his head. "It, countered and avoided everything I threw at it. Everything! It was unnatural!" His face was shifting from resigned to angered. Obviously thinking it was targeted at him.

"Don't move around too much Mr Lehnsherr. You had a lot of injuries and you'll reopen them if you move too much." Ryu manages to succeed in making him lay down, where he frowns.

"You're the Horned Owl. Aren't you." Ryu pauses for a moment, before nodding his head reluctantly. "You have the same accent, mannerisms and build as him, of course you're him. I suppose I should extend my thanks for your aid against that creature?"

"Save it Magneto. Why did you come here?" Logan was leaning against the door, arms crossed and a warning growl building his his throat.

"The Wolverine... If I recall, he was the one to bring me here." He nods his head to Ryu, who shrugs. "But if you meant how I came to arrive in town. Well... I was an, unwilling guest in it's travels."

Logan nods his head, moves to a workstation and starts pressing some buttons. "Yeah, keep talking. We got a feed of the thing but all we have is you both bursting out and then the after-effects."

"It's body is similar to Mystiques in that it's a shapeshifter. It can alter it's shape into any shape it wants, including hardness and..." He gives a brief wince as his hand hovers over a puncture wound. "edge..."

"Yeah. It just splatters on things and moves past it. Like that lamppost and metal plate." Ryu adds his own two cents, something to which Eric nods in affirmative.

"It ambushed me in the old country, literally flying at me from nowhere. It enveloped me and then I had the sensation of moving somewhere fast." He grunts, hand clutching his side. "I managed to escape by throwing out a strong electromagnetic pulse. It rattled the creature, enough so that I found myself in the sewers. I then engaged in taking it down but it avoided everything I threw at it."

Ryu hums. "And that's when you decided to take to the skies? Avoid the cramped space."

"Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, it followed. And well." He gestures to the screen. "You know the rest."

Ryu gives a sigh. "Well you're really lucky nothing vital was punctured. The main risk was infections and blood loss but we managed to stop it." He glances at the tray again, before silently pushing it away from his sight.

"I hear you posses the Phoenix Force too..." He gives a look at Ryu, who nods his head. Magneto's face then twists into one of surprise as Ryu blushes heavily. _'Yup! Hi there! I'm GP! Hope you're feeling better. Don't worry about the bucket thing, I've already tweaked the translation gift so my cute little owl won't be stuck speaking Japanese.' _They could feel her grin rather than see it, but Ryu was still partially mortified at that last statement. _'GP!'_ Magneto, he probably was confused about the whole thing.

Logan and Beast starts snickering. "We're still getting used to her." _'Yup! I'm the non-explody Phoenix For-' 'IT WAS A TWO TIME THING DAMMIT! TWICE! Stop bringing it up!'_ A feeling of a fist being shaken and a burst of laughter filled their heads.

Magneto just looked, well, flabbergasted was one way of putting it. "... I... um..." Because really, what do you say to something like that? Two cosmic beings capable of destroying the world, arguing.

Logan slaps Ryu on the back, holding back his laughter at Magneto's expression. "Congrats you two! You stunned Magneto into being at a loss for words. Not many can do that."

The door opens and Jean steps through although she steps to the side when Logan is flung out the door and impacting against the wall with an audible dent. She turns to the others and sighs. "You do know it's louder in MY head... right?" _'Sorry Jean...' 'Sorry...' _Magneto gives a quick glance around, looking for his helmet. "It's safe." He gives a somewhat furious look at Jean as the room shakes ominously. "Oh behave. You're injured and Ryu's claiming full responsibility for you anyway."

His expression turns to one in surprise and glance at Ryu, who blushes and rubs the back of his head, looking to the side. "You were injured, what was I supposed to do."

Magneto gives a sigh, before settling down in the bed again. "I'm leaving once I've recovered. For your information."

The grunt from the hallway could of been an answer, but Jean confirmed it. "Just don't wreck anything this time please." A flick of her hair and she was out of the room.

Ryu and Beast glanced at each other, before shrugging. "Well Eric, until your injuries are taken care of, you'll be confined to bed rest until further notice. So please don't go up and about, reopening wounds and generally almost dying or collapsing please. Thank you." And now Beast left, after taking the CD that had the CCTV footage of what happened.

That left Ryu and Eric alone for the moment, who shifts a little. "Um... Do you want some water or something?" A dismissive 'no' came from him, so Ryu took that as his cue to leave. Stepping out of the room, he rests against the wall, a sigh escaping from him as his thoughts turns to the creature that took out Magneto with such relative ease. _'Whatever it was, you should be careful. I can't sense anything coming from it so it wasn't alive or sentient. But machines don't behave like that do they?' _He shakes his head. _'Not only that, but Magneto can manipulate machinery anyway, so it wasn't a machine...'_

Ryu looks up. _'Which begets the question. If it isn't alive and it's not a machine... Then what was it?'_

* * *

_(1): [Japanese] I'm getting a bad feeling about this_

_(2) [Combination language]: I was having a conversation with GP! No need to push!_

_(3) [__Combination language_]: Why is my language mixing Japanese and English?

_(4) [Japanese]: You are injured! Let me see your wounds. I have had medical training, so don't worry.  
_

_(5) [Japanese then English]: That stupid bucket on your head is confusing my translations... Oh, never mind._


	6. Gunk Attack!

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own Gatchaman. If I did, I would change nothing._

* * *

_"Blah blah" in double-quotes is someone speaking_

_'blah blah' in single-quotes is mind speech_

_blah blah with no quotes is story text and Ryu's personal thoughts_

* * *

**_Previously..._**

_That left Ryu and Eric alone for the moment, who shifts a little. "Um... Do you want some water or something?" A dismissive 'no' came from him, so Ryu took that as his cue to leave. Stepping out of the room, he rests against the wall, a sigh escaping from him as his thoughts turns to the creature that took out Magneto with such relative ease. 'Whatever it was, you should be careful. I can't sense anything coming from it so it wasn't alive or sentient. But machines don't behave like that do they?' He shakes his head. 'Not only that, but Magneto can manipulate machinery anyway, so it wasn't a machine...'_

_Ryu looks up. 'Which brings the question. If it isn't alive and it's not a machine... Then what was it?'_

* * *

Life at the institute became a lot more tense ever since Magneto was admitted into the infirmary. These people all had a history with one another, one that Ryu didn't have much of a clue about... at first. Now he was starting to understand. Although the way he found out probably wasn't how anyone wanted to explain it, he wasn't fully to blame for it to be perfectly honest.

All he did was comment about bringing something down for Magneto, which had the entire room go quiet for a moment, so in a moment of idiotic, yet brilliant plan, he decided to shrug and drop his mental defenses for a moment. Who knew they were all thinking about their history with the man and his current situation at that moment and with his powers still so sensitive, he picked up on all their thoughts on the matter.

Sure, when he woke up hours later with a pounding headache he didn't honestly know what to think. He now kinda understands the X-Men's stance on the Master of Magnetism. He was vaguely aware that Jean may of came in and tried talking to him, most likely telling him off for doing something so stupid. Which he does actually agree with. Hindsight was such an annoying thing. At least his thoughts was too scattered to actually understand or even hear most of what she was saying.

Thinking back, he didn't realise exactly how sensitive his powers actually were. While dropping his mental defences opened his mind to the X-men's mental thoughts, he was quite suprised that he managed to catch Magneto's thoughts as well. So while he did understood to an extent what the X-men was thinking, he also understood Magneto's reasoning as well.

Without his helmet, Magneto's thoughts were a lot more vulnerable to a stray mental probe. He was thinking of his past, of his friendship with Charles Xavier, of his fight for Mutant freedom and his life in the 40's. He hasn't told anyone that he caught onto Magneto's thoughts, but he was a little shaken at his memories. They felt all too familiar to his world as a whole than he wanted to remember and he was just a child, barely older than Jinpei. He glances to the side, his eyes still a little glazed over, catching Eric looking away and ask something of Beast. What, he couldn't remember, but it made him give a shrug and say something back. Ryu blinks a few times as everything started to regain their focus.

_'Thank god! Are you ok?' _He blinked again at the mental nudge. _'... G... P? What happened...'_

He could feel the scolding he was about to get rather than hear it, but she started it anyway as the familiar heat built up again and started to clear away his headache. _'Well after you stupidly dropped all of your defenses, your mind got overwhelmed with information. I managed to throw up a mental shield for you in time but you still took in a lot of memories. Jean's furious by the way. What on earth possessed you to just drop ALL of your defenses like that!'_

Ryu gives a mental shrug as he slowly brings a hand to his forehead, pressing his palm against it as he sighs. _'I... Didn't mean to drop all of them. I kinda wanted to just open it a crack. But I don't think my control is good enough for that kind of control.'_ An eye-roll was felt but he was a bit more concerned with the shock of red that just entered the room and the look of anger on her face. _'I'm doomed... Aren't I?'_

Before she could say anything, Wolverine was stalking into the room and the feeling of doom magnified ten-fold. He shot a desperate look at Beast and Magneto, but both gave a shrug. Great. He was subjected to half a minute of ranting, wolverine style, complete with yelling and claws coming out ad threats to cause bodily harm if he ever tried that again. Although for some reason, a few moments into that rant, his mind thought back to Joe for some reason...

Then his mind flashed with an intense pain and then a different scene. Wolverine was replaced with Ken, in his bird-style and his sword waving in the air, clearly furious at something he couldn't quite see as Joe was trying to drag him back from whatever it was, dragging him away. Then the group of five retreated, fleeing from the island they were on and an echo of laughter reverberating through his mind. Fire and machines filled his thoughts before everything comes snapping back to reality.

He placed one hand against the wall, knees bent and panting as he tries to catch his breath. _'Don't worry Ryu. We'll get back home soon... Although I'm a little confused about where we are right now...'_ His wings trailing in the wind as he looks down at the Institutes's lawn, where he notes several of the X-men were gathered, looking up at him through a blue-ish tint.

He looks around, before realising he was on top of the mansion, back to the place he was hiding on when he scouted out Mastermind earlier in the week. He looks around, wondering when he transmuted as he could feel his wings fluttering in the wind. He blinks in confusion as the visor starts fading away, causing him to look down in alarm. The first thought before realising how high up he was, was why his bird-style was red and blue. This third thought was why it faded to his casual clothing and his fifth thought was to grab that pole and swing from it before splatting on the floor.

He ignored the fourth thought, which was a curse word that he was sure Janet and Jean would note and proceed to smack him upside the head as punishment, but he really didn't think that was the time to do so.

So when he finally managed to reach the ground, through a combination of careful swinging, drops and telekinesis. Landing, he gives a wary glance at the others, wondering why they looked like they were about to fight or something. Then he felt two minds touch his. _'Ryu. GP... Are you two ok?' _

He glances at Jean, opening his mouth to say something, before wincing and clutching his head. Jean was by his side a moment later. _'It's strange. Usually I'm aware of what's going on. But I honestly can't remember what happened after Logan came bursting in with his claws and acting like Joe.' _Ryu nods in agreement.

_'I think I saw back home for a moment there. But everyone was so out of character, I'm not sure it's real.'_ He could feel a mental hug from GP and he sends of feelings of thanks for that. But it was Jean that disturbed the mood.

"You both went fiery." She carried on, ignoring the look and thoughts of shock from Ryu and GP from that statement. "While Logan was yelling, you burst into flames and then disappeared I sensed you out here so we came up here and saw you just standing up there, a Phoenix shape made of fire surrounding you and looking quite dramatic." She places her hand on her hips. "Nothing bad happened. You just stayed like that until you went out and came down. But it was worrying." then a soft mental nudge. _'What happened?'_

Ryu couldn't even recall how he moved or transported there. One second, Logan was yelling, then a flashback of his world and then he was somewhere else a moment later? He could feel GP gently going through his mind, but he gives a shrug. "I saw Joe and Ken, Jun, Jinpei and Selena. And the Gatchaspartan. But nothing to do with GP or the Phoenix force..." Gp's response was comforting. _'I saw that too. But I also feel like someone just used up a lot of my power at once. Which could explain the power usage.'_

"Jean?" She glances at Logan and gives a nod.

"Come on. I'll check you out in the infirmary. Something isn't right here." Ryu gives a nod in agreement, before shakingly rising to his feet. He had Beast help support him and the three head downstairs. It was embarrassing that he needed support, but he was worried about this period of time that disappeared from him.

Magneto was still downstairs, looking concerned, but he was mostly ignored. After settling Ryu back onto his bed, Jean sat near him and placed her hands on his temples. "Let's see if we can get to the bottom of this..."

* * *

_**Several moments later**_

Jean was disturbed out of Ryu's head when she heard a mental call for help. Disorientated, the pair stumble from their seat on the bed, Magneto looks at the two in confusion before the intercom crackles on. "The Mansion is under Attack. Initiating Defense systems, level 2."

Jean suddenly sits up right and sends out a mental message to everyone. _'Bobby is under attack from a black blob thing.'_ She was hopping off the bed when she rounds on Ryu and pushes him back down. "You mister need to rest. We can't risk another burst like that out there." Huffing, he complies, knowing that arguing would delay them. As Jean runs out with Beast, Ryu glances at Magneto, who eyes him warily.

"It's not often I get to see someone with powers who can't quite control them just yet..." A shrug was given in response, before he smiles gently. "It sure takes me back."

Ryu blinks and stares in confusion. "Brings you back?" He winces, a hand on his temple as a flash of memory hits him. "You used to be here. With Charles."

Eric frowns. "You went into my head didn't you?"

Ryu rubs his temples. "I think I went into everyone's head. I didn't realise how sensitive my powers were."

Eric adopts an expression that was part-way between angry and perplexed. "What do you mean by sensitive?"

"They're really senstitive to thoughts. I mean, a few days ago too, some mutant called Mastermind tried to access Cerebro by inciting a riot. But somehow those feelings were picked up by my telepathy. Stuff happened, but it went to show that I still have a long, long way to go before I can control any of my powers..." Ryu gives a sigh, the headache dissipating. "Usually Jean or GP helps suppress my powers, at least until I need to practice suppressing it myself."

His fellow bed-mate adopts a thoughtful expression. "So more sensitive than Jean's when she developed Telepathy... Interesting."

"Sorry for entering your head. But, well, I kinda wanted to know why everyone was so divided about you during breakfast and I got frustrated that everyone kept telling me later. So I dropped my defenses. Didn't think I'll pick up your thoughts as well..."

He gives a sigh. "I... understand I suppose. Your still trying to reign in control and your powers aren't co-operating. Still... Do not tell anyone what you saw in my head." The instruments nearby rumbled ominiously, but Ryu just gave him a sad look.

"Now that I think about it, it was your thoughts that made me think of home..." He looked puzzled. "Our war hasn't lasted as long as the one you were in, but it's still ongoing. Sure, we have 5 people like Captain America working against them, but that loses a lot of impact when the army can't even put a dent against the enemy's machines."

Here, Eric winces, bringing a hand to his temple and shouting out. "Control your powers!" Blinking, Ryu realises that his memories of Galactor and the team was being projected. He tries to reign it in. After a few moments, Eric gives a sigh, before glaring at him. "You really need to get a lid on your powers!"

Ryu frowns. _'GP? You haven't said anything for the past few minutes...'_ He waits for a reply, before jumping when something cold presses against his arm. Looking at it, he spots a floating stethoscope, before he lands back on the trays. Eric gazes questionably at him. "GP usually has a comment or two to say about things. But she's been unusually quiet..." His expression turns into a frown. _'GP? C'mon. I'm getting a little worried here now...'_ "How concerned should we be?" _'GP! Please Answer me!'_

A grumble in his head causes him to sigh in relief. _'Is it important... I was taking a nap.'_ Ryu sighs in relief. _'Sorry. You were just so quiet for a while and I was worried.'_ A mumble in his head before her presence disappears again. "She was resting... Thank god..." Eric gives a shrug, before settling back down.

They were disturbed when Jean entered their thoughts. _'Ryu! We need help up here. This thing is unnaturally powerful but I've got it somewhat contained in a telekinetic bubble!'_ Ryu gives a nod and hefts himself out of the bed, landing and stumbling slightly. "Are you sure you can go?"

Ryu gives Eric a grin. "Hey, I'm the Horned Owl. Of course I can." He transmutes, before running out. Out of sight, he leans against the wall, panting briefly. This was going to be a challenge. He manages to get into the lift and selects the ground floor. _'I'm on my way Jean.'_

What felt like hours later, the lift dings and opens up, letting Ryu stumble out. He was so tired. This bit of exertion was taking it's toll on him but he refused to drop down. He manages to stumble outside, leaning against the doorframe as sweat drips down his face from under his helmet, huffing. Scott appears by his side a moment later. "It's not that tiring running from the infirmary to here."

Ryu looks up, about to comment when he stumbles again and falls onto his arms. Now Scott looked worried. "Ryu?"

"So tired..." Ryu could feel his vision wobble, before Scott helps him up.

"Ok. Something is definitely wrong with you..." He still helps him to the battlefield. He could see it now, the black blob straining against an invisible bubble it was in as Jean keeps up her concentration. Hank was nearby, scanning it while trying his best to support her. "Do you think you can reinforce that bubble?"

Ryu gives a half-hearted shrug. Setting himself down on the grass, he crosses his legs, brings his hands together and begins focussing on his powers. Willing a bubble to join Jean's, he could feel her create a small gap within the shell, creating two layers of kinteic force. Ryu slips his bubble within the two layers, wincing as he feels the blob hit against the side of her's fairly hard and creating a bump on his. He frowns, before trying his best to reinforce it as Jean starts to slowly shrink the thing, giving it less space to escape.

"Why don't you go fiery Ryu? That'll help? Right?" Iceman commented. He looked a bit broken and hurt but since he was made of Ice it, probably didn't hurt. Still, Ryu was in deep concentration and didn't hear it. He could, however feel GP shift around in his mind. _'Hmm... Careful.'_ And she was out again. Jean then entered his mind. _'Ok Ryu. I'm going to take a small piece of it out. Get ready to create a small hole when I nudge you kay?' _Scott, meanwhile, takes his helmet off, frowning at the Owl's flushed cheeks, his pale complexion and the abnormal amount of sweating coming from his brow.

Ryu gives a grunt. A few moments later, a slight nudging in his bubble and Jean telling him to let her through, which he does, creating an opening for her to let the sample through before trying to close it back up. Which was quite a challenge, but he just about manages it, feeling himself approaching his breaking point. He completely misses Beast making noises and interactions with the sample. He could feel his mind straining, as a breeze ruffles his hair, the cool air helping cool him down despite feeling everything getting hotter.

_'You can drop your shield now Ryu.' _Gladly, he thinks. He drops the shield and opens his eyes. Everything was blurry and wavering, before he slumps onto his back. He thinks he could hear Scott ask if he was ok, and he was tempted to say no for the hell of it, until he felt some bile rising up. Rolling over and stumbling onto his hands and knees, he clears his stomach of all it's contents, before slumping down onto one side with a groan. A cold hand touches his forehead and he could feel Scott hiss. He then feels him pull his arm over his neck and turns away from the scene, and the pair begin trekking back into the mansion.

At least, that was the aim. A scream distracted the pair, Scott shouting out to Jean as Ryu squints through the haze at what was happening. His sight must be deteriorating because he was seeing double now. He could feel Scott gently settling him down against the wall before rushing forwards, arcs of red light launching out.

Then fire spread everywhere, lashing out and rapidly building between the fuzzy, black blobs. The flame then reduces until it was about human sized. A few moments later Iceman was helping him up and as Vertigo hit him, everything started to go black, although he did hear his comment. "Throw up on me and I'll freeze it to your shirt._"_

* * *

**_Infirmary_**

Ryu gives a light groan, twisting in place as he keeps sweating. He felt hot and the nice breeze in the room was just right. Cracking open one sleep encrusted eye, he peeks around. The room was quiet and he could sense nothing amiss. Then a gentle nudge from GP distracts him. _'Feeling better?' _Mumbling, he rolls over and curls up under the blanket. _'I feel terrible... What happened?'_ Her reply was not helpful. _'Dunno. I woke up a few hours ago to find you had a fever. What happened?'_

A light groan in reply. _'Didn't I just ask you that?'_ a chuckle was given as Beast appears in his peripheral vision. "Welcome back. You slipped into a fever for some reason earlier. Not sure how, but you did. Congrats by the way. Fastest record for going from healthy, to sick, to healthy again."

He mumbles, reaching for the glass by the side and taking a grateful gulp or 12. Now that his thirst was quenched, he looks up at the blue, fuzzy mutant and deadpans out. "Does anyone actually know what happened to me? I don't have a clue and neither does GP."

His shrug wasn't encouraging. "A student did recover from a fever last week. I doubt that's it but it's currently the only knowledge of recent fever's I've got. So between making sure you stayed hydrated and finding out what caused your sudden bout of sickness, I've been analysing the creature sample."

Ryu suddenly blinks. "What happened there? I can't actually remember much of what happened then."

Beast chuckles. "You saw what we saw from you earlier today. Jean unleashed a portion of the Phoenix Force, dealt with the blobs and repaired the battlefield at the same time." He rests a large hand on the ninja's shoulder, which he notes is still clad in his bird-style. "Quite impressive. She must of been taking lessons from you at the same time as your lessons with her."

Ryu couldn't help but imagine Jean in a Bird-style, similar to Jun's. The feeling of disappointment from GP at the thought clashed with healthy blush on his face at that. "... Neat..." Beasts grin turns into an enquiring one as Ryu struggled to keep the thought in his own head. Seeing his expression didn't change, he gives a sigh of relief, this time feeling a mixture of pride mixed with the disappointment from GP. _'I'm a human alright! Can you blame me for having an overly active imagination!?'_ A mental huff from her was his response, but he still gave a light grin in victory. "So, what have you got on that thingy anyway?"

Beast gives a shrug. "Chemical analysis was about 80% complete, so we'll know in a minute or two." A ding from the lab answered the question as well. "Or it's done now. Sit tight." He walks off into his lab, leaving Ryu to his thoughts.

A moment later, Magneto steps into the room, now decked in his clean, albeit with holes in it costume and helmet. "I see you have recovered."

Ryu brightens up. "Hey! You're all better now?"

He gives a nod. "Indeed. It's not often I get to see someone catch a fever and then recover within an hour. Usually healing factors deals with it faster." Ryu gives a wince, rubbing his head as he feels a slight pounding beginning. _'Ok, something is defiantly wrong. I get sleepy, you get a fever, and now a headache!?'_ He could feel her presence fade somewhat, although the sensation of mental rummaging entered his mind. "Do you need me to fetch McCoy?"

Ryu glances up at the concerned expression on his face, or at least, he thinks it's concerned. Hard to tell with a helmet blocking off 80% of the face. Before Ryu could answer, Jean enters the room. She glances at the pair, before sighing. "I'm going to continue seeing what I can find what caused your blackout earlier."

She settles herself down on the bed as Ryu shifts around a bit. "GP's a bit worried too, especially with the sudden fever. I think she's rummaging in my head or something." She hums in agreement, placing her hands on his temples as she opens up a mental link.

It took several minutes of silence, before a fourth voice pops up into their heads. _'Found out what happened.'_ GP exclaims back. _'Really! What?'_ The two psions mentally blinks, before Jean mentally mutters Phoenix. _'Well, before you had that blackout, I can sense a slight disturbance in the dimensional barrier. Back to your home world I believe. So you or Ryu must of opened a crack and drew in some of the events that are occurring over there.'_

Both Ryu and GP mentally blinks owlishly at that. _'We did? I don't recall doing that?'_ They get the sensation of a shrug back at them. _'Well, remember it or not, it doesn't change the fact that you both did . So that brings us a new problem about how it happened. I'm guessing Ryu was thinking about home pretty hard. Am I right?'_

The smug expression was met with some confusion. _'Um... I'm going to point out, you just said remember and then pretty hard. You should really - right.'_ Phoenix ruffles her mental feathers. _'Excuse me! I did say an entire sentence! It's not my fault you're blank... ing. out? Wait, you don't remember what happened then. Do you? Have you been missing other memories as well? And your reply broke up a bit at the end there...'_

GP gives a shrug as Jean frowns at how her phoenix force was getting involved. _'I don't recall... Why do I suddenly have a headache?'_ Jean pulls out for a moment, worry surging out when GP mentioned that she had a headache. She slipped her hands down and out from Ryu's who was currently rubbing his temples with a pained expression on his face. "Ryu? Do you have a headache?" He gives a small nod, complete with a wince as Beast enters the room, triumph on his face.

"It-" Jean interrupts here, flames starting to come from her body as she presses two fingers to his forehead. She gives a growl. _'Ryu. GP. Don't be alarmed, but we just found a mental scar in your head.'_ Ryu's response was typical. _'Wha!? A Scar!? How the hell did that happen!? How does a mind get scarred? I suppose something traumatic happening but nothing like that has happened.'_ GP tried comforting him, before his body starts letting out sparks of cosmic fire.

_'I'm guessing it's an injury from Mastermind's attack back then. Stay calm. Let us handle it.'_ Ryu tries taking in several deep breaths to calm down, but the panic he felt earlier was fed into GP, who herself started to panic as she started imagining worst case scenarios. The connection between the two was suddenly closed off, as he feels Jean's presence talk to his mind. _'You're looping emotions right now with GP. This is for your own good. Now, just relax. Once we've fixed what happened, I'll lift the mental block.'_

Those few minutes where their connection was blocked felt like years to the Owl. By the time the block was lifted, Ryu was already shaking, feeling a cold emptiness that tore away at his heart and soul as he hugged his legs, only stopping when he could feel GP's presence re-enter his mind and surround him in a warm glow. _'Ryu...'_ A tentative nudge from Jean was given, before her presence withdraws upon feeling that she should leave the two alone for the moment, her Phoenix letting her know that she explained everything to GP so she shouldn't feel too upset about it.

As she returns to her body, she gives a stretch, before staring at both Wolverine, Cyclops and Magneto, all staring at her. "Let him rest. He had a mental scar from Mastermind's attack and it was interfering with his powers. I, had to block off his connection with GP because they were panicking and looping that panic between one another. I think he's gone into shock since this is the first time her presence was completely cut off from him. Give him a while to recover."

The three mutants gives a sigh and nod, before retreating to beast's lab to examine the results.

Ryu, in the meantime just basks in the comfort his Phoenix was giving him, the soft glow that surrounds his body ensuring no-one tried to interfere. He gives a brief nod, every now and then, answering GP's questions but was otherwise unresponsive. It seemed like forever that he stayed like that, long enough for the others to leave the lab and well into the night. Then Ryu finally unwrapped his arms from his legs. A glance around and he gives a hesitant nod, before hopping off the bed. He sways a bit, feeling his muscles starting to wake up from their sedimentary position for the while, but it was enough that he was stumbling out of the infirmary.

He managed to catch the others as they were leaving, giving an apologetic look to Jean and mentally apologising for his behaviour. She gives a soft smile and ushers him back into the infirmary as the other four head off upstairs, quietly talking amongst themselves about this new threat. A few seconds of silence and Jean decides to reiterate her earlier statement. _'Like I said earlier. Your panic was feeding to GP, and you were feeding off her panic and started looping around so-'_

He cuts her off, his cheeks a little red. _'I know. GP had to explain it several times before I fully understood. Thank you. Although a slap to the face would of been as effective you know.'_ His grin and that last statement made her smile, knowing that she was forgiven for what she did. "So what was that all about? Did Beast find out something to do with that thingy?"

She chuckles at that. "Yes. In fact, we found out quite a bit. But we still don't know who, or how they're doing this." She pauses for a moment, before pulling out a disc from her pocket. "In fact, Logan wanted me to ask you that he's calling in that favour." He raised an eyebrow, confused at that, before realising that he did kinda owe him one for what he asked him to do earlier. He nods his head in agreement and she continues. "He would like you to return to the Avenger's for the moment so you could ask them about this creature. This disc has all the Data we have managed to gather. He did ask me if I thought you were ready and after fixing that little problem earlier, I believe you are."

His expression was flipping between excited, happy, confused, interested and proud, all in a mixed bag of emotions. He finally nods his head. "Well, if you believe I'm ready, then I'll go. Hey! Does this mean I get to fly the blackbird!"

She laughs, ruffling his head in in a cheerful voice. "Nope. Your going by bike. We have a spare so we'll be lending that to you. Try not to crash it."

He pouts, before brightening up as she heads for the door. "Wait, what do we know about this creature?"

She pauses for a moment, before deciding to debrief him quickly. "Well..."

* * *

**AN:**_ And I'm stopping there. I'll let you all guess. It's kinda simple anyway but I'm leaving out the definite answer. Like the noodle incident._


	7. Avenging Gunk

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own Gatchaman. If I did, I would change nothing._

* * *

_"Blah blah" in double-quotes is someone speaking_

_'blah blah' in single-quotes is mind speech_

_blah blah with no quotes is story text and Ryu's personal thoughts_

* * *

**_Previously..._**

_Jean chuckles at that. "Yes. In fact, we found out quite a bit. But we still don't know who, or how they're doing this." She pauses for a moment, before pulling out a disc from her pocket. "In fact, Logan wanted me to ask you that he's calling in that favour." He raised an eyebrow, confused at that, before realising that he did kinda owe him one for what he asked him to do earlier. He nods his head in agreement and she continues. "He would like you to return to the Avenger's for the moment so you could ask them about this creature. This disc has all the Data we have managed to gather. He did ask me if I thought you were ready and after fixing that little problem earlier, I believe you are."_

_His expression was flipping between excited, happy, confused, interested and proud, all in a mixed bag of emotions. He finally nods his head. "Well, if you believe I'm ready, then I'll go. Hey! Does this mean I get to fly the blackbird!"_

_She laughs, ruffling his head in in a cheerful voice. "Nope. Your going by bike. We have a spare so we'll be lending that to you. Try not to crash it."_

_He pouts, before brightening up as she heads for the door. "Wait, what do we know about this creature?"_

_She pauses for a moment, before deciding to debrief him quickly. "Well..."_

* * *

Ryu was glad he took those driving lessons back home. It took a few tries to get used to driving a motorcycle but once he got the hang of it he was speeding along the highway, en route to New York. It was a little surprising, hearing what the creature actually was, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Of course Magneto couldn't do a thing against it, it wasn't metal. Whereas his and Jean's telekinetic power didn't give it room to escape.

He swerved to the side, missing a truck as he hears the toot from the driver in annoyance. He really shouldn't do that, but it was fairly slow. _'Or you've been ignoring the past 2 speed limit notices...'_ Or indeed, he may have ignored speed limits. The biggest accident he could cause on this thing was killing himself and maybe stalling a truck, but based on the weight of those things, he doubted he could knock it over with a motor bike. Speaking of speed limits...

He heard sirens suddenly light up behind him. A quick glance in the mirror and he spots the officers inside looking around in confusion. _'And might I add. Using your telepathy to make people forget that you were speeding isn't any better...' _That was also a valid answer from GP. Still. _'We are making good time this way you know...' _A huff in response. _'You have had more close calls with death in the previous hour of bike riding than you have since we arrived in this dimension!_' He gives a mental shrug, narrowly avoiding yet another truck. _'So what is that? Like, 5 times?'_ He laughs at the feeling of a pout entering his head, before he spots a sign fly past. He gives a grin and starts slowing down, now re-entering normal speed-limits for this stretch. _'Oh, sure, now you decide to slow down.'_ A quick chuckle and he turns off the motor way and into the service station. _'What can I say? I'm used to faster planes and this speed is a mighty good supplement.'_

As he pulls up to the pumps, he removes the helmet he was wearing and ruffles his own hair. Kicking the stand out, he swings himself off and starts going about putting some fuel into the machine. Watching the pump increase the numbers, he pulls off it once he was at a respectable number, draining the last few drips from the nozzle before entering the shop to pay for the fuel. He was glad he was given some 'pocket money' for the trip, enough for a round trip but he figured he could weasel a quinjet back, so he was kinda blowing some of the petrol money of food and snacks.

As he settled down for a burger at this restaurant he looks at the bike that was taking him across the country and to New York. He'll admit it, it was kinda nice just driving along and...

He frowns as he spots someone shifty walk to his bike, before quickly fiddling with it. The sound of the engine roaring to life had him glare and just as the guy attempts to drive away, he suddenly breaks a few feet forward, getting flung off the bike and rolling along the ground infront of it. The man shakily get's to his feet, only to watch as the bike reverses back into it's spot, the engine cutting off again and the stand coming back out before resting back in it's original spot. The man jumps when a truck driver honks his horn and he runs away, obviously freaked out.

Ryu gives a chuckle, just as the waitress clears her throat. Turning to her, he almost bumps his face against a floating slat shaker, causing his face to flush slightly as he pushes it down. She opens her mouth so he decides to cut her off before she can go on a triade about mutants and freaks and such stuff, like the previous diner he hit up. "Thanks Ms!"

_'*sigh*. Remember, carefully...'_ He was careful, putting his full concentration into what he was doing. After a moment, her eyes dilate and she gives him a gentle smile. "Here's your order sir. One bacon Cheeseburger with a side order of fries and salad. Enjoy honey and let me know if you want a refill."

He gives a bright smile. "Thanks ma'am!" He watches her walk away before sighing in relief. Up one for telepathy changing thoughts and memories around. Although it probably wasn't Avenger or X-man-like doing it, he will admit it was making the journey that much more bearable. The second pit-stop was a nightmare when he caught a thief with his powers. The anti-mutant hysteria in that area was too harsh that he used all his multi-tasking skills to kick his bike into action from within the diner, then used all his ninja skills to zip over to it as quickly as possible. The one guy that threw a can, well, he'll recover from the high-speed reflection of it. So working with GP, he was carefully removing all anti-mutant reactions he's come across since from his pit-stops ever since.

As he starts on his greasy meal, he thinks back to the disc in the bike. A glance at the bike showed it was still safe. Not like it mattered. If someone did steal it, he'll just transmute and hinotori up and get the bike back. Taking his time with his meal, he swallows the last chip, wipes his hands and face with a napkin and then stretches. He slips a few notes onto the table as payment and heads off. Just like the previous stop. If his calculations were right, then this should be the last stop until NYC. Kicking up the stand to the bike, he revs up and tears off down the motorway.

* * *

**_Hours later_**

Ryu gives a brief stretch, basking in the setting sun's rays as he looks at the skyscraper he was next to. Task one was done. Return back to the city. Now, to locate the mansion. That was going to be a challenge. e had a vague idea on how to get back from the mall, but finding the right one would be a chore. It would be far easier to find central park and head from there.

As he pulled down the road, his peripheral vision caught something, just as something black impacted against him. Flung off his bike, he rolls along the ground as the black stuff starts moving up his arms, just as he hears someone scream from nearby. His mind connected what it was the same moment the thing suddenly burst off of him and was flung away. Flipping up, he stares at it as he takes stock of where he was. Why did the gunk thingy have to attack him now? A skidding distracted him, flinging out one arm and throwing his bike up into the air with his telekinesis before joining it, glad he did so since a car just skidded by where his bike just was and the creature diving where he just was.

Quickly pulling out the disc from the seat, he dumps the bike on a roof before grabbing onto the railings of the building. Stuffing the disc into his pocket, he flips up and over, before jumping back a bit. The creature quickly joins him as Ryu gives a frown, before turning tail and running. The creature seems to be following him, but he knew it's weak spot and he was going to take advantage of that any moment from now. As he makes on flip onto a building, he hops to the side, before rebounding off and onto the destination's location. As the creature leaps up at him, he gives a grin, before flinging himself up with his telekinesis. Once he was high enough, he yanked the creature up to him, before slamming it into the water tower nearby. He lands a few moments later, but he gives a grin as the creature didn't come out.

Score 1 for the Owl!

He turns back to where his bike was, only to blink at the 4 other black blobs. "Seriously?" They all dive at him and he jumps up, quickly transmuting as he goes along. A backflip in the air and spreading his wings gave him enough aerial manoeuvrability to land against a wall on a building and kick off that to go even higher. He was already priming his shuriken holster to the KO gas function, dispensed one and threw it in the centre of the group. They all jumped away, before leaping towards him. Two blobs spun around and grabbed hold of the other two, before launching them at him.

Wide eyed, he quickly twisted his body, changing his angle so he landed on a nearby roof, evading the pair by a narrow margin. Rolling on the ground, he hops back and looks up, before one blob rams into him. Flipping backwards, he winces as the gooey substance started to spread over his body, before a telekinetic push forced it all away, splattering against a wall and reforming into the same creature again. The other three blobs landed around him, surrounding him from all sides. Looking back, he tries to keep track of all four, but their positioning made that impossible. Another blob attacked him from behind, trying to envelop him in a cocoon but again, his telekinetic powers helped keep them back.

Panting, he could feel sweat dripping down the side of his face, keeping a bubble of force around him, but the tiles on the roof started shaking as his control started slipping. _'Ok, Switch time!'_ Thank god...

As one blob darts at him, Ryu gives a grin. "Kaguku ninpo!" He jumps at it, flames enveloping his body as he meets the creature in mid air. "Hinotori!" And the creature evaporates as the flames surrounding him takes on a phoenix shape. Spinning in the air, he throws both hands out, forming bubbles of force around the three blobs as they attempt to dive to the side, only to splatter against the edge. Clapping his hands together, the three bubbles mash into one another, forming one slightly larger bubble of whatever they were made of.

Spinning again, he darts through the air, propelling himself forwards with telekinetic force, the fiery wings seeming to beat up and down as he moved through the city, an obvious sign that he was around. He could mentally hear the cries of surprise from the citizens, but he wanted to get to the mansion as soon as possible, the dark bubble following him. _'Two minutes!'_ Brief bursts of power were that, brief. GP was thankfully keeping count on how much time he had left before the power started to tax him. And there it was! Avenger's Mansion!

Zooming down, the front door opens to show Steve and Janet, both looking surprised at seeing him, especially like that. Before they could say anything, he was already connecting his mind with theirs, and everyone in the mansions. _'Hi, I'm back. Do we have an air-tight container that I can dump these things? They're somewhat lethal.'_ They were both a bit startled at that, but as he lands and brings the black bubble around, their eyes narrow. Janet rapidly shrunk and her hands lit up with her stingers at ready as Steve gestures into the mansion and rushes in. Ryu was glad, following him as he mentally catches their thoughts.

He was a bit surprised they encountered these things before. These things have really been getting around. _'53 seconds!'_ Steve pressed a button as he starts saying something, but Ryu interrupts him. _'Tony or Hanks lab!?' _He jumps a bit, but the flash of Hank's lab in his mind was all he needed. Tugging open the doors with his power, he dives down, a small hole appearing in the box coming up as he goes through. _'36!' _He turns off at the floor he remembers Hanks lab being in, the door opening as he flies in, his sight snapping right and then left. Hank was tapping away by some container thing and jumped a bit at the sudden entrance, but he pointed at the container, where Ryu slams the bubble into it. As few moments of tapping and the top closes. Satisfied, he lets the flames fade as he disconnects his mind with GP.

Once he was disconnected and the Hinotori faded, he drops onto his backside and starts panting. "Ryu? How..." He gives a brief wave in response. _'Luckily, you had about 12 seconds left of that form.' _

He gives a grin, just as the lift dings and opens up to bring Steve, Janet and Vision into the lab. "Welcome back."

He leans his head back so he was looking at the new arrivals, a silly smile on his face as he feels various emotions bubbling up and leaving him slightly high. "Hiya!" A few deep breaths to catch his breath. "I brought some gifts back. Sorry about the rush but," Another deep breath. "I have a time limit in that state." That spoken, he slumps down and just rests on the floor. He grins up at Janet as she puts her hands on her hips and looks down at him. "Totally safe by the way. I even had some spare time I could of stayed in that form for."

She gives a sigh as Steve offers a hand up, having shifted his shield to his back. A yank and he was back on his feet. "I see your lessons with Ms Grey have been beneficial." Giving a grin he nods his head. "So I take it you've encountered these things as well?"

Ryu blinks, before thumping a fist into his hand. Transmuting back out, he rummages in his pocket for the disc, before offering it to Steve. "Mr McCoy found out a whole load of stuff about them. They kinda appeared during a festival back near the mansion fighting Magneto, where Jean and I managed to force it to retreat and."

Dr Pym grabs the disc, rushing to a computer and began inserting it, eager to find out what the X-men found out. Steve places a hand on Ryu's shoulder to calm him down. "Summary mode, not ramble."

Ryu blushes at that, before standing at attention. "The creature attacked Magneto, We managed to force a retreat and then tended to his injuries. The creatures attacked the mansion a few days later and we managed to repel it while getting a sample. Beast placed information on the things on a disc and Logan asked me to deliver it. Upon arriving in the city, I was attacked by five of those blobs. I dumped one in a water tower and the other four are currently in there." He gives a grin. "Anything else sir? Or am I dismissed? Because it was a really long motor... Crap!" His grin drops as he realises that the bike was on a roof somewhere, before blinking when his bike helmet is removed.

A thwack on the head had him sit down and cradle the impact spot, eyes wide as he looked up at Janet who scolded him. "No swearing remember!"

Steve just chuckles. "We'll pick it up. Do you know where you left it?"

Ryu thinks back for a moment. "Um, I think it was on a roof of a building around Flushing meadows... Which does actually remind me of something before sleep..." He gets up and rushes for the toilets. The shaking of heads was given as Janet and Steve decides to get a quinjet and pick up the bike. Shouldn't be too hard to find a bike on a roof around there right?

Once Ryu came out and started down the hallway to the lift when he almost ran into the Vision, who greeted him. "Greetings Ryu Nakainishi. Do you remember the route to your bedroom?"

Ryu nods his head as he heads to the lift. "Yup. Thanks Vision. See you in the morning."

"Have a pleasant evening. Is there anything you need help with Mr Pym?" He catches a dismissive wave as he enters the lift and goes up. Following his old footsteps, he opens the door to his room and looks it over. He blinks when he spots his old notebook on the stand, but other than that the room looked a bit more barren. He gives a shrug, moves to the bed and falls face first onto it. A happy moan comes from him as he shifts around a bit to get comfortable, before he starts dozing away...

* * *

**_The next Morning_**

Ryu gives a low groan, before rolling over. He was quite rested after that, extensive nap. Opening his eyes, he looks at the curtain to his room, before blinking a few more times. Sitting up, he rubs his eyes as he looks around. His eyes widen as he finally remembers where he was. _'You're at Avenger's Mansion Ryu.'_ His grin widens, before throwing the covers off of him and checking to make sure he was still presentable. Once done, he opens the door and rushes downstairs, feeling out the first person around. And lo and behold, his senses took him to the Kitchen. Opening the door, he was greeted by Steve Rogers, sipping his coffee and reading the paper.

As Steve looks up, Ryu gives him a wide grin, which was mirrored by the super soldier. "Well, Good morning Ryu."

Ryu chuckles, rubbing just under his nose with one finger. "Morning Steve. Good to be back."

He chuckles. "We found your bike by the way. It's outside so you can take it back." He catches the glint in the Owl's eye and winks. "And no, we're not giving you a quinjet to fly." He laughs as Ryu's expression falls. _'So... your this Steve? Hiya!'_ he blinks at the sudden voice in his head. _'I'm GP! Thank you for looking after my Owl while I was indisposed.'_ His expression twisted to one of confusion. "Erm, your welcome?" _'Just speak in your mind. No need to speak out loud.'_

Ryu chuckles at Steve's expression. "You'll get used to it."

"I'm not sure I could." _'But... It's me?'_ Ryu gives a chuckle. _'It's ok GP, I love you'._ A brief flare of heat and he felt his cheeks pink a bit. _''Awww. you mean that?'_ "Ryu? Your face is going red?"

Ryu turns his blushing face to the war veteran. "Um... No comment. Is Hank and the others down at his lab?"

Steve gives a nod and Ryu heads to the lift, before pushing the button for the scientist's floor.

A ding and the door opens to show him the fairly animated responses of some of the other Avengers.

"-ieve this creature is made from that! That's like, so unlike what I expected!? Seriously!?" Janet was ranting as Hank shakes his head.

"We're all interested in this creature's chemical make-up, but I'm more concerned about it's objectives. This kind of material it's made of isn't exactly capable of possessing a brain and... Ryu!" They both finally spot him as he steps from the lift. He gives a shy wave. "Tell Beast that he made a nice find! Still can't believe half the things he found out about these!"

Ryu steps over, a light grin forming on his face. "Me neither. I still can't fully believe that they're made of-"

"I know! That's exactly what I was saying!" Janet burst in mid-sentence. "And you still managed to capture one!"

He coughs lightly. "Actually, it's more like 3. I may of mashed them all into one bigger blob when containing them like that."

She grins back, before it falters. "Whatever it is, it managed to capture Whirlwind before we could get him to a secure place. Do you know why it's going after Mutants? I'm assuming it's after mutants. It kind of left the rest of us alone until we attacked it."

Ryu nods. "Mr Logan wanted me to find out how much info you guys managed to gather on these things, figured that pooling our resources may be our best idea."

Hank shakes his head. "Apart from preliminary scans and guesstimates, we had no real data on them. The things show up, avoids virtually everything we throw at it, envelops Whirlwind and then shoots off. In fact, the only thing that managed to delay it somehow was Jan's stingers."

Ryu blinks at that. "Wait, her stingers work as well? My KO shurikens work on them too, although they do bubble a bit from it."

A collective hum as the three start thinking.

*ding*

"So this is where you were hiding! No hellos? Nothing?" Ryu glances back to see Tony Stark walking over to him. "Not even a souvenir?"

"... Um..." Ryu's brain was currently processing various requests.

"You just come back a week later, all fiery again, dumped stuff here then hit the hay? Would it kill you to at least say hi?"

"... Hi?" Well that was lame. _'Well, he did ask for a hi...'_

"Close enough". _'See!'_ He then gives a large grin. "Well, I suppose you DID bring back a souvenir. Hank looks all gleeful so the data must be good?"

"Damn right it is Tony! The chemical make-up of this creature is only one of the many finds this disc has on it! Doctor McCoy is a genius in the field! It resembles-"

Tony, who was peeking over his fellow scientist, widened his eyes at the reading. "Wha? Is that! Really!?" He glances at Hank and they begin engaging in techno-babble, rapidly chattering away to the point where Ryu's eyes glazed over.

He was saved from brain-melting by Janet tugging on his arm and dragging him away. "You guys enjoy that stuff, I'm going to play catch-up!" Some hand waving was taken as a dismissal, not that they needed it since the doors to the lift was already closing. "So how was your time at the Xavier's? Fun?"

Ryu shifts a bit, thinking back. "Yeah... Fun... That's one way of putting it." She blinks in confusion. "Fun, explody, stressful... Kinda like school in fact." She giggles at that. _'And a fuzzy teddy!'_ He flushes at Janet's confusion. "Um... and GP may have a slight obsession with Mr McCoy..."

"Oh..." _'It's not that bad! It's a fascination at worst!' _Yeah, Ryu wasn't going to dignify that response with an answer. A picture of Beast suddenly pops up in his mind, although he looked a lot smaller and more fluffier than he remembered. "Oh! Yeah! He does look like a fuzzy bear!" Apparently, he also popped up in her mind too.

"Jan!" _'GP!'_ He called out on their respective channels. "What! You tell me he isn't fuzzy!" _'If I have to suffer your fantasies, it's only fair you suffer mine!' _Ok, that was simply uncalled for... Right?

He thinks back, before his cheeks go completely red. _'Didn't you say you can block those thoughts?' _Her response came out in a teasing way. _'If you remember, I said I can prevent your mind from broadcasting them. Didn't say anything about not seeing them myself... So there you go, the first, and probably only downside to our_ link.' And an image of tiny, fluffy beast being hugged by her popped into his mind again.

"Ryu? Why are you go all red?" He blinks, seeing Jan waving her hand in front of his face, just as the lift dings.

"... Breakfast time!" He grabs her hand and runs to the kitchen The best way to suppress all these thoughts was with food!

"Fine, but you know I'm going to get to the bottom of this soon." God he hoped not. Still, she was sufficiently distracted now so it was all good.

* * *

God he missed this! Bringing a forkful of syrup-coated pancakes to his mouth, he almost moans in delight as the sweet, sweet taste of goodness dances on his taste-buds. "... Ryu?"

He glances at his eating companion, her forkful halfway to her mouth but having stopped to watch him eat his. His cheeks flush red. "What? It's been forever since I had pancakes and my taste buds love me for it!" _'More! More!'_ "And GP likes it too!"

She shakes her head at that, focussing on her own food and ignoring the noises the Owl was making as he ate his. Her face goes a bit red before hissing out to him. "Can you do that quietly! It's a little disturbing!"

He had another piece brought towards his mouth as he blinks and looks at her. Taking another bite, he made the effort to be extra loud at that, before a sharp sting on his arm had him yelp. Blinking, he looks at her with a betrayed expression as she blows on her index finger and shoots him a glare.

He holds both hands up in a placating manner. "Ok, ok. I'll stop that now!"

She huffs and continues with her breakfast. "You better or you're getting more zapping!"

As he takes a bite, GP whispers into his mind. _'You know, that list Jean's making of you cursing is going to bite you on the butt... Really hard...' _He gulps, almost choking on the piece in his mouth. It was a small, pocket sized pad, but last he saw, it was already filled with 6 pages of notes. _'... Um...' 'And she is going to be giving Janet that list too...' '... I'm doomed... Aren't I?'_

She didn't dignify that with an answer. Instead he decided to finish his breakfast in a hurry. He suddenly get's a thought, and grins widely at it. "Hey, who's around? Apart from you, Hank, Tony and Steve?"

She hums for a moment, chewing on the pancake in her mouth and swallowing. "Um... I think T'Challa is around. Hulk is most likely napping somewhere. Everyone else is out or patrolling." She gives a nod at that.

Ryu had his eyes closed, trying to feel out where everyone was, GP guiding him in how to use that particular power. So Hulk was in that room, Steve was heading to the training areas... Hank and Tony were still chatting away and Janet was... there. He opens his eyes, blinking at her confused expression. "... I think my mental senses are far-sighted. I just tried to sense everyone's position and you were the hardest to find... Weird."

She sticks her tongue out. "I'm still getting used to you having powers... And far-sighted mental senses? If anything I would of thought it would be short-sighted!"

He gives a shrug. "Hey, I'm just glad I have a mental sense! So I'm not knocking it." He ate the last piece of his breakfast before getting up and putting the plate into the sink. He blinks. "Hey, I just realised. If the chef makes these somewhat freshly... Where is he or she? I don't think I sensed them either..."

She blinks, frowns, then shrugs. "Dunno. I wouldn't put it past Tony to have JARVIS do all this." She looks up, eyebrow raised. "You know, I was expecting some sort of comment about that?"

"I have been instructed to ignore comments about cooking unless someone asks for the a 'how to' or request something."

They both blink. "Huh... That's... neat?" They exchange looks, before shrugging. Ryu gives a wave before running out the door, heading towards Hulk's general vicinity. Peeking in the door, he awws at the sleeping giant, before deciding to head down and join Steve. A moment later, JARVIS comments. "Avengers. Head to the war room. SHIELD has reported that Bubble Man is currently under attack by the black blob, although he has managed to encase himself in a bubble and is still around." Ryu turns to the lift and takes it down as JARVIS continues to relay information. "The SHIELD Agent's are trying their best but have been unable to do anything about it for the moment."

The lift dings open as he meets up with the others. The lift goes up the moment he comes out, as he moves to join the others, transmuting as he went along. He matches their grin, glad he was back with the Avengers, even temporarily. _'And this will be simple!' _He nods his head. _'Hopefully.'_ He steps onto the Quinjet, seating himself down and closing his eyes in bliss. Ah, he missed this ship!

The hums of the engines grabs his attention as the Quinjet lifts up and shoots off towards their destination.

* * *

And at quite good speeds as well, Because the Quinjet was dropping speed as it landed at their destination. Before they have even disembarked, SHIELD soldiers were directing them to the cell that was under attack by the black blob. They met Maria Hill a few moments later, who narrowed her eyes upon seeing him. "What are YOU doing here? Shouldn't you be at Xavier's?"

He gives a shrug. "I had something I wanted to drop off and my tutor deemed my control satisfactory enough to come visit. So here I am." He gives a grin, ignoring her scowl. The familiar tingles of multiple minds was knocking on his mental doors, but he was now trained enough to keep them shut out. Huffing, she led the group down to the cell blocks, where she just points at the cell that's being occupied by Bubbleman.

Or, at least, it used to hold only Bubbleman. Now it was also sporting a large, black orb behind some bars, although some spots were see-through, enough to see Bubble man sitting there, sweating a bit apparently from the stress of maintaining the bubble for an extended period of time. Hank starts explaining what he knew about the creature to Hill and the agents as Tony begins his analysis, already pulling up stats on Bubble man. At least, they both started too. The moment Ryu got a good look at the black orb, the material begins the ripple, before it starts drawing in upon itself, revealing even more of the trapped Super-villian. Blinking, he realises what was about to happen, and throws his hand out, just as the creature leaps to the side.

Grabbing hold of it with his telekinsis, he quickly envelops it in his own telekinetic bubble. Watching it struggle as it morphs into a ball and starts sending out spikes out in an attempt to stab them. Luckily, his own bubble kept it contained, but a wince shows that he felt the thumps to the bubble's shell from within. The others start rushing their tasks as Bubble man finally drops his shield, panting from exhaustion. A few minutes later, Tony was relaying information to the others, but this blob was a lot more active than before. All those spikes hitting his telekinetic walls was like a small spike of pain in his mind and before he realised it, he found that he was quickly approaching his limit. With sweat starting to drip from under his helmet and his chest starting to heave, he found that he was feeling physically exhausted as well, which was odd since he was quite refreshed from earlier. Shouting out to disturb them, his "I'm reaching my limit guys!" had them all start moving in a flurry of activity.

A group of SHILED agents come in, carrying what appears to be a container a few moments later. Figuring out what they wanted, he starts dragging the bubble over to it, ignoring Hank's comment of "Easy, easy!" Just before he could place it in, the creature rapidly expands, slamming against his telekinetic walls in a flurry of attacks, the pain in his mind flaring up at how rapid they were before he visibly stumbles back and falls onto his back, looking completely dazed. His mind paused for the moment as he registers the fairly, violent attack as his bubble drops the creature drops into the container. It leaps out a moment later, only to hit another bubble that formed above the container and entrapped it. As Janet flutters over to him.

"Do you think you can move the container around the bubble? They aren't really capable of moving..." Hill glances at Bubble Man, who gives a grin, before it drops to a admonished one as he became intently aware of how unamused the directer of SHIELD was. She turns back to the container and barks out some orders, Tony moving to help move the container into position.

Janet pokes him a few times. "You awake there Ryu?" He blankly stares up at the ceiling for a few more moments, before blinking. He then turns to look at her, looking a bit distant despite the orange glow in his eyes from under his visor. "Ryu?" _'Um... Ryu's sleeping at the moment. Hmm... Hold on, nope. That didn't work either...'_ She blinks, before realising who it was that was muttering in her mind._ 'GP?' _

The confirmation reassured her. _'Yup! Ryu fell unconscious from that attack. I'm in control at the moment, but it's a lot different without Ryu's consciousness there with me... Hmm... I wonder...'_ A moment later, his hand twitches, before pushing his body up until he was sitting properly, head bowed slightly. _'So, those nerves do that... Then this should do this...' _Janet blinks, before mentally calling out. _'GP, are you, controlling his body?' _The response was his body shifting around a bit, before leaning against the wall, before patting his stomach several times. _'Yup... Heh, cute.'_

"Jan? Is Ryu alright?" She blinks, before looking up at Steve.

"Um... err..." She glances at him, before nodding her head slowly. "Yeah. He's kinda fine... Just, a little out of it..."

_'This sure is weird...'_ A loud clang caused the two Avenger's eyes to direct to the container, which was now upside down and hovering in place, Tony bracing himself as he held the bottom. A moment later, his legs bend, before shifting the container around so it was upright. _'mmm, I still feel a little out of it...' _Blinking, Ryu's body slumps over again. _'Bout time you woke up! I was about to see how well I could control your body. How are you holding up?'_

Shaking his head, Ryu pulls his helmet off and rubs his temples. _'I really felt that last attack... I blacked out I take it?'_ The affirmative chirp from his inner phoenix confirmed it as Janet and Steve helps him stand up. "Thanks... I wasn't entirely expecting that last attack."

A pat on the shoulder was given as he slips his helmet back on. "Well, despite being unexpected, I suppose it's a good thing you're here. Although why ARE you here?" Hill glances at the three Avengers as Ryu gives a helpless shrug.

"As much as I enjoyed this, I think I should head back and get some rest before heading back to the institute. My power's aren't really that strong unless I go fiery. And I'm guessing a lot of people are going to get nervous if I do that." He gives a hesitant smile, despite her not-amused expression she was shooting him with. "So, erm. Yeah. Hi?"

A sigh and a shake of the head was given in return as Tony moves past her and to the other Avengers. "We have some data on these things from the institute back at the mansion. We'll send it over for your tech guys to look over." Her eye quirks up at that. "The thing Ryu dropped off was data McCoy gathered about these things."

She gives a nod. "We expected as much when Magneto appeared at that festival with that thing after him."

Ryu blinks, before frowning. "You knew about that? Why did you ask why I was here for then!"

She gives a smirk. "We're SHIELD. What do you expect."

He opens his mouth to say something, pauses, before closing said mouth, sighing and shaking his head. "I'm not even going to ask..."

"Heh, smart kid." Tony found himself knocked over as if someone hit him hard enough to flip him over.

"And I'm not a kid old man!"

* * *

**_AN: _**_Did a little bit of research. Couldn't find out Tony Stark's age so I'm leaving it ambigious. Also, GP takes control of Ryu's body for the first time. And to answer any questions about how she shouldn't have any problems, she's used to turning a plane into a phoenix and flying. A human is a bit more difficult with Ryu providing guidance._


End file.
